KDHE Home - News 1999 - News Release

Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary

October 1, 1999

Contact: Mike Heideman, 785-296-1529

Prairie Dog Disease in Morton County Poses Potential Health Risk

There has been a recent die-off of prairie dogs in the Cimarron National Grasslands in Morton County, in Southwest Kansas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that fleas taken from those prairie dogs are positive for Yersinia pestis, an organism known to cause the disease plague.

The risk to humans is very low, but people can become infected from flea bites or by handling sick or diseased animals. There have been nine reported human cases in the U.S. in 1998 and five plague cases in the U.S. so far in 1999, but no reported human cases in Kansas.

Fleas are the main carrier of Y. pestis and prairie dogs are very susceptible to plague when they are bitten by infected fleas. The human risk of plague from prairie dogs is considered low because contact between prairie dogs and humans is rare. However, house cats can come into contact with prairie dogs and/or their fleas and can transmit the infection to humans. Cats are more susceptible than dogs to plague and therefore may be more likely to spread the disease to humans.

Preventive measures reduce the likelihood of people being bitten by infected fleas and having direct contact with infective tissues. Specific recommendations include:

1. Avoid contact with prairie dogs in the Cimarron National Grasslands.
2. Avoid contact with sick or dead animals.
3. Use repellants, insecticides, and protective clothing during potential exposures to fleas.
4. Keep dogs and cats flea free and restrict pets from wandering.

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