An elderly Utah resident died from the plague earlier this month, state health officials said on Thursday, the first person in Utah to have been diagnosed with the disease since 2009.
The Utah Department of Health did not identify the patient, but said he or she may have contracted plague from a flea, or contact with a dead animal. The bacteria that causes the disease occurs naturally in the western United States.
So how exactly is the bacteria “naturally occurring” in the western states when the disease is said to have been brought to US shores by rat-infested steamships?
Its vague from the article whether the The Utah Department of Health or the US Centers for Disease Control called the bacteria naturally occurring. Being that they are government entities, you don’t suppose that they might LIE do you? Hmm?
Could have been workplace illness. but absolutely nothing to do with the democrunts importation and infestation of third world dogshit that will never assimilate nor speak English.
I guess that prairie dog petting zoo wasn’t a good idea after all.
According to gubmint, it was just a case of bad luck.
To Hell with Utah.
I’d be more concerned with the Black Plague infecting the White House and Washington, DC. 👿
It is claiming for more victims. 🙁
Somebody’s been rubbing Harry Reid’s nasty little head again.
Just a thought: Plague is spread by fleas. Utah has no fleas. Too High. Too dry. Ticks, flies, mosquitoes, yes. Fleas, No.
Yersinia Pestis Back to Best Us
It’s in the fleas on the prairie dogs. Probably carried home by the family cat.
I can buy that the prairie dogs have them and people getting fleas them from them without ever touching the animals. Just by walking where they live.
If you want a lesson on how fleas are and what makes them difficult to be rid of them – read on.
Fleas are what I talk about most when I’m asked to speak to groups. Their life cycle is widely misunderstood and leads to much frustration.
Any flea that jumps on you out in nature – just hatched. They can’t live for long without a host.
Flea eggs are slippery. They easily hit the ground wherever the hosts live, sleep, scratch, etc.
Then they hatch into a worm-like larva and start their path to the pupa stage. This stage is easily affected by chemical treatment and can wipe out all the ones that haven’t reached the pupa stage yet.
The pupa stage of a flea is where they are special and confound people in their efforts to be rid of them. This is where people give up thinking nothing works on them. Because nothing kills them while they are in their cocoons. Well, maybe fire.
Depending on the species of the flea, and environmental conditions, they can take 2-4 weeks to change into an adult bloodsucking flea. Longer if the environment is cooler than ideal.
Once they are ready to hatch out of the cocoon – they wait until a prospective host comes along before breaking out. The vibration of an animal walking by is what does it. So they spend a tiny fraction of a second on the ground while they jump on you or your pet. That’s why a yard or indoor treatment seems to not work on them. A population will hatch for several weeks while all the pupa mature out of the cocoons.
They have to have a blood meal within days of hatching or they die. They can’t live without a host for long.
So they wait inside their cocoons and as soon as the vibration of your foot steps signals them – they hatch and jump on the nearest moving thing. That could be you while your walking through prairie dog town admiring nature.
Note: their sight is rudimentary and will jump on whatever they can see best. A white dog will pick up more fleas than a black dog if you walk both through a flea infested area at the same time.
The key to complete control is making all the local hosts a death zone for fleas. Sometimes you have interloping hosts you have no control over throwing you curve balls. Like cats or wild animals sleeping on your property or under your house, in your attic, in your walls, etc., or in many cases I see – a neighbor who does nothing about their flea problem.
Yes. I’m a nerd about these things, but that’s what I do for a living so I better be a nerd about them. I have more advice about flea traps and such but this is a lot for one post already.
No cat needed. They have no problem jumping on people.
Once had my just-repaired pest control truck delivered to me by a guy that had an infestation where he lived.
It was quite a shock to find fleas in it when I got in it the next morning.
First time I treated a vehicle but not the last.