Tag: Zoonotic Diseases

10-Year-Old Girl Dies from Plague in Colorado

The plague is caused by bacteria that can come from prairie dogs, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents By Vanessa Etienne July 23, 2021 01:36 PM

https://people.com/health/ten-year-old-girls-death-in-colorado-linked-to-the-plague/

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is urging the community to be cautious after a 10-year-old girl died in La Plata, Colorado from the plague — the state’s first death from the disease in six years. 

State health officials confirmed the death was caused by the plague in a release. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plague is a disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, which can infect humans and other mammals through flea bites. Animals such as prairie dogs, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents often carry the disease. 

“We are so sad for the loss of this young Coloradan and our deepest condolences go to the family,” said Jennifer House, deputy state epidemiologist and public health veterinarian of CDPHE, in a statement. “Public health is doing an epidemiological investigation and wants Coloradans to know that while this disease is very rare, it does occur sometimes, and to seek medical care if you have symptoms.”

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Nebraska zoo urges nearly 200 guests to get rabies shot after wild bat exposure

Seven wild bats were found in the zoo, one of which tested positive for rabies

7/10/2021 – A zoo in Nebraska told 186 guests that they may have been exposed to rabies after a wild bat that tested positive for the virus snuck into the aquarium. 

“The bats we identified were Little brown bats, a common bat species in Nebraska that anyone could find in their backyard or attic,” Dr. Sarah Woodhouse, the Animal Health Director at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, said in a statement Friday. “It is not unusual for a wild bat to be infected with rabies, which is why you should never directly touch a wild bat.” MORE

Squirrel tests positive for bubonic plague in Colorado, health officials warn

The bubonic plague is responsible for the deadliest pandemic in human history.

A squirrel in Colorado has tested positive for the bubonic plague.The squirrel tested positive on July 11 in the town of Morrison, marking the first case of plague in the county this year, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) department.The disease has been around for centuries and is responsible for the deadliest pandemic in human history. An estimated 50 million people in Europe died during the Black Death pandemic of the Middle Ages.

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NIH’s axing of bat coronavirus grant a ‘horrible precedent’ and might break rules, critics say

A now-canceled grant from the National Institutes of Health allowed researchers associated with the EcoHealth Alliance to gather samples from bats, which can carry viruses that jump to other animals and humans. ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE

The research community is reacting with alarm and anger to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) abrupt and unusual termination of a grant supporting research in China on how coronaviruses—such as the one causing the current pandemic—move from bats to humans.
The agency axed the grant last week, after conservative U.S. politicians and media repeatedly suggested—without evidence—that the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, that employs a Chinese virologist who had been receiving funding from the grant. The termination, which some analysts believe might violate regulations governing NIH, also came 7 days after President Donald Trump, asked about the project at a press conference, said: “We will end that grant very quickly.”

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Colorado Rabies Update

Rabies in Colorado 2019

Rabies is regularly found among wildlife (especially skunks and bats) in Colorado, even in urban areas. We monitor wildlife and test animals showing signs of rabies to determine how far the disease has spread among skunks.

Rabies is a serious threat to humans and animals. Our lab-based monitoring helps us prevent cases in people and control the spread of rabies in animals, decide what treatment to use when humans have been exposed, figure out how to manage animals that might have been exposed, and add to the science of the disease.

So far in 2019, 134 animals from Colorado tested positive for rabies. Of those, 102 rabid animals are known or strongly suspected of exposing 207 domestic pets, 57 livestock animals, and 43 people. These numbers may change as additional information is acquired.