Plague!!

“State park near Truckee closed because of bubonic plague
--------------------------------------------------
Bubonic plague has forced the early closure of Donner Memorial State Park
near Truckee. California parks officials confirmed the plague in 2 squirrels
in the area. They say a cat from the park campground also was showing plague
symptoms.

Ranger Mark Hoffman said the park was closed early for the season on Tue 27
Aug 2002. He said the day-use and camping area will be closed until spring
2003, but the Donner Party museum will remain open.

"The health department will come in and trap animals and they also will dust
for fleas," Hoffman told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "They will work to knock
it down and then come back in a month and check to see how well they did."

Officials for the Nevada County Health Department said the park closure was
voluntary. They say a large rodent population had been reported in the area
and that several squirrels were dying.

Last year, a chipmunk tested positive for plague at Lake Tahoe. Nevada
records show plague has infected chipmunks and squirrels in all of Nevada's
counties [in the past].

Bubonic plague, which is carried by fleas in foothills, mountains, and along
coastal areas can affect mammals, including humans, according to the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People usually get plague
from being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or
by handling an infected animal, according to the CDC. Antibiotics are
effective against plague, although it can still cause death if a person is
not treated promptly.

Since 1978, 38 cases of plague have been reported in humans in California.
Symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, weakness and swollen glands. "We get
plague reports every summer in the Sierra, but Donner is the first park to
be closed this year," said Vicki Kramer, chief of vector-borne diseases for
the California health department. "The Truckee area has a history of
infected animals." She said the most recent human plague case reported was
in 2000 when a Kern County, California, man survived the disease.

--
ProMED-mail


[Plague is endemic in rodents in the southwestern parts of the US, including
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The usual infected rodent in
the USA is the prairie dog, and less often, squirrels. There are about 10
cases each year in humans in the USA, who usually become infected when
bitten by the flea vector or, less commonly, by direct contact with the
infected rodent. The flea vector of _Y. pestis_ preferentially feeds on its
rodent host but will occasionally feed on a human. Infection in the flea
leads to obstruction of its gastrointestinal tract, causing it to
regurgitate the bacilli while attempting to feed. Cats and other mammals
occasionally become infected via the same mechanism as humans - Mod.DK]”

“But not if you have herpes.

Check out the researcher's name, too.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273015,00.html”

“ROTFLMAO....I just keep thinking he should end all his comments with "Not that I would know anything about this."”

“By some coincedence, I was reading "The Plague" by Albert Camus when the stories about GRID first hit the national news.”

“On the thread list, it's had to tell if that's a G or a Q....

                    Plaque!!

(like someone needs to get their teeth cleaned!)”

“i read a book my son had a long while back. there is a train of thought that some people of a certain race who can trace their ancestry all the way back to someone who caught and survived the bubonic plague may have a natural defense against hiv and aids. interesting? i wish i could remember the name of that book.”