“Wildlife Staff Outside Denver Work To Stop The Spread Of Plague Among Prairie Dogs - NPR” plus 2 more

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• Wildlife Staff Outside Denver Work To Stop The Spread Of Plague Among Prairie Dogs - NPR
• Plague-Infected Prairie Dogs Cause Parks to Close Near Denver - Smithsonian.com
• Plague-infected prairie dogs prompt shutdowns near Denver. Fleas can spread it to pets and humans. - The Washington Post

Wildlife Staff Outside Denver Work To Stop The Spread Of Plague Among Prairie Dogs - NPR Posted: 21 Aug 2019 01:31 PM PDT An outbreak of plague has struck a prairie dog population outside of Denver. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with research wildlife biologist Dean Biggins about the risks to the region's ecology. AILSA CHANG, HOST: So there's a new outbreak of plague just outside Denver, not among humans but rather among prairie dogs. Some parks have been partially closed through Labor Day as staffers try to stop the spread. Dean Biggins is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and he can explain more to us. Welcome. DEAN BIGGINS: Thank you. CHANG: So what made my mind kind of explode when I first heard about the story was I thought the plague ended centuries ago. Is this plague now the same as the Black Plague? BIGGINS: It is the same disease. It's caused by the same bacterium that caused the Black Death in medieval Europe. CHANG: And are these outbreaks common, like you've seen this before? BIGGINS: This is fairly common in the western U.S. Since plague was introduced well over a hundred years ago - about 1900 in San Francisco - it's been spreading throughout wildlife populations. And pretty much the western half of the country has it, except in the most extreme environments, like desert. And it's been noticed a lot in colonial squirrel species, like ground squirrels and prairie dogs, where sometimes entire colonies will die out. CHANG: So when prairie dogs are infected with the plague, how does that affect the overall food supply chain? BIGGINS: It's an interesting question. In the case of the prairie dog system, it, of course, has a dire effect on the prairie dog population in general. And the most dependent species on those is the black-footed ferret, which is a highly endangered weasel-like animal that once was much more abundant on the plains but is now extremely rare. CHANG: They eat prairie dogs usually, and so now their food supply is being threatened. BIGGINS: They do, yes. They're entirely dependent on prairie dogs, mostly for food. But they also - ferrets use the prairie dog burrows as shelter, so they're highly linked to the prairie dog system. And the black-footed ferret is directed susceptible to plague itself. So it's not just a matter of losing its prey. It actually probably succumbs to the disease about as quickly as the prairie dogs do. CHANG: So what's being done now to keep this from spreading further? BIGGINS: The methods being used now are some that we've worked on for quite a few years. And now, two of them involve controlling the fleas that transmit plague, and we're doing that with a couple of different products, insecticides mainly. They're used as flea powder, deposited in burrow in one case. And in another case, we're feeding a fipronil product to prairie dogs in baits. And they ingest the baits, and the fipronil in their system kills fleas. That's a lot like products that you'll see used on pets. CHANG: OK, so if this is about fleas - not to be selfish, but let's just say I'm planning a hiking trip around Denver - do I need to be worried about catching the Black Plague? BIGGINS: If you're hiking around prairie dog colonies in particular, you should be very cautious about fleas. You definitely can contract plague from flea bites. They'll jump on you pretty readily. They don't bite humans as often as one might think, but if you do, you're at risk. CHANG: So what precautions should I take? Does normal bug spray keep fleas away? BIGGINS: Bug spray with DEET is a pretty good repellent, and that's what we actually use quite a bit of when we're working on plague in the field. One should also just be recognizing the symptoms of plague. And if you happen to have gotten a flea bite and you come down with flu-like symptoms within a three-day period or so, you should be cognizant that it might be plague and probably get over to a doctor and try to get on some antibiotics. CHANG: Wow. All right. So, people, watch not only for ticks but fleas after those hikes. Dean Biggins from the U.S. Geological Survey, thank you very much for helping us understand all of this. BIGGINS: Well, thank you. (SOUNDBITE OF PHISH'S "DOWN WITH DISEASE") Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

Plague-Infected Prairie Dogs Cause Parks to Close Near Denver - Smithsonian.com Posted: 21 Aug 2019 08:50 AM PDT Bubonic plague may seem like a disease that's been relegated to the history books, but that's not the case. The disease that struck terror in people in the Middle Ages is alive and well in the modern world, and it's most recently appeared in prairie dog towns in the suburbs of Denver. Morgan Krakow at The Washington Post reports that in late July, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shut down the 15,000-acre Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge north of the city when fleas infected with the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis were found in the refuge's black-tailed prairie dog colonies. Last weekend, parts of the refuge reopened, but certain areas will remain closed through Labor Day. According to a press release from Colorado's Tri-County Health Department, the Prairie Gateway Open Space in Commerce City is also closed to the public as well as First Creek at DEN Open Space, a nature preserve near Denver International Airport. So far, there are no reports of any humans contracting plague in the area. "The prairie dog colonies are being monitored and burrows are being treated with insecticide, but there is still evidence of fleas in the hiking and camping areas, which could put people and pets at risk, so those areas will remain closed," John M. Douglas, Jr., Executive Director of the Health Department, tells CNN's Eric Levenson. The Post's Krakow reports that health department workers have been coating the prairie dog burrows with powdered insecticide. As the little mammals run into their burrows, they brush up against the powder, hopefully killing off the fleas and preventing the spread to other animals. "We are closing trails and spraying an insecticide to kill fleas in plague-affected areas where there might be humans," David Lucas of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge tells Krakow. "But then there is this secondary effort which is to try to prevent the spread of this disease across the landscape." So how did prairie dogs get a virulent infection that plagued the Byzantine Empire and killed 60 percent of Europeans in the 1300s? During the last half of the 19th century, plague spread across China. When it hit the port of Hong Kong around 1894, the disease-carrying fleas began to spread to port cities around the world, eventually killing about 10 million people. Ester Inglis-Arkell reports i09 that bubonic plague came to the U.S. via Chinatown in San Francisco around 1900, though local officials refused to acknowledge the disease, worried about driving away tourists. In 1906, however, when an earthquake leveled large parts of the city, rats carrying plague fleas proliferated in the rubble, leading to an outbreak of the disease. The bacteria was also transmitted to San Francisco area squirrels, and from there, spread to the small rodent population of the American West. Now, the disease is endemic, meaning it's always present at low levels, though researchers don't completely understand why larger outbreaks occur during certain years. On average, between one and 17 cases of plague are reported annually in humans, with hotspots located in the high deserts of northern New Mexico and Arizona as well as southern Colorado, according to the CDC. But it's not just humans that suffer from Yersinia pestis. Outbreaks of the plague, which is called sylvatic plague when it infects small mammals, can kill over 90 percent of prairie dogs infected with the disease. "It all depends on the species of prairie dog and the level of die off. A number of prairie dog colonies see complete loss," explains Paul Marinari, a senior curator at Smithsonian Conservation and Biology Institute. These prairie dog die-offs are one of the reasons the black-footed ferret, which relies on the rodents as prey, is endangered. Teams have already developed a safe and effective plague vaccine for black-footed ferrets, and an improved vaccine for prairie dogs is in the works, says Marinari. Nidhi Sherman at LiveScience reports that over the last five years, a vaccine has been given to prairie dogs living near ferret populations—sometimes using drones to airdrop vaccine-laced peanut butter pellets—and so far it appears to be working. "Wildlife managers have struggled to recover ferrets and manage prairie dog colonies due to the devastating effects of plague," Dan Tripp, a researcher with Colorado Parks and Wildlife says in a press release. "It is our hope that use of the sylvatic plague vaccine in select areas, with the support of willing landowners, will help to limit the impact of plague to wildlife.

Plague-infected prairie dogs prompt shutdowns near Denver. Fleas can spread it to pets and humans. - The Washington Post Posted: 18 Aug 2019 10:41 AM PDT Parts of a Colorado wildlife refuge remained closed Sunday after plague-infected prairie dogs were discovered there in late July. Wildlife and nature areas near Denver have also been shut down as officials continue efforts to stem the spread of the disease. Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, a 15,000-acre nature area northeast of Denver, was able to partially reopen Sunday. The refuge is home to many species, like bison and bald eagles, and is where the plague concerns developed. Plague-infected fleas were biting black-tailed prairie dogs, and officials began closing affected areas "as a precautionary measure to prioritize visitor health and safety, while also allowing staff to protect wildlife health," according to a statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The risk posed to hikers and pets is why certain areas remain closed. Dogs are less susceptible to the plague than cats but may pick up fleas that can infect other animals and people, said Gilbert Cazier, an environmental health specialist in the Tri-County Health Department. "If you bring the dog home and he sleeps in your bed, those fleas can then jump and get onto you," Cazier said. Though the plague can be treated with antibiotics, it has a dark history. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was responsible for the death of 60 percent of Europe's population during the Black Death. In 1900, rat-infested ships sailing from areas with plague problems led to epidemics in U.S. port cities. The last epidemic was in Los Angeles in the 1920s. Today, most plague cases are reported in the western part of the United States, with an average of seven cases reported every year in recent decades. The bacterium that causes the plague, Yersinia pestis, often infects small rodents like rats, mice and prairie dogs. Fleas can then transmit the disease to humans and other larger mammals. In addition to fleas, humans can contract plague from coming into contact with the bodily fluids of infected animals or by breathing in the coughed droplets of plague bacteria. Bubonic plague is responsible for 80 percent of plague cases in the United States every year, according to the CDC. A boy in Idaho contracted bubonic plague last year. In 2017, Arizona officials warned residents after discovering plague bacteria fleas. And in 2015, a star high school athlete died of the plague in Colorado. Plague continues to afflict some communities around the world. In 2017, an outbreak of pneumonic plague in Madagascar killed 202, according to reports by the World Health Organization. Health officials in Colorado have been coating prairie dog burrows with an insecticide powder. As the prairie dogs enter their holes and brush up against the powder, Cazier said, it kills the fleas on them and prevents the spread to other animals. "We are closing trails and spraying an insecticide to kill fleas in plague-affected areas where there might be humans," said David Lucas, from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. "But then there is this secondary effort which is to try to prevent the spread of this disease across the landscape." At first, workers were spending 16-hour days spraying the burrows with insecticides, but since then they have been able to reduce the amount of time they spend on it, Lucas said. The disease is considered endemic, meaning that it is always around, but health experts don't fully understand how it turns into a larger outbreak. Lucas said that what makes the current incident unique is the somewhat urban area where it's taking place. Also, the refuge is home to the country's second-largest wild population of the highly endangered black footed ferret, which are known to prey on prairie dogs. In 2016, The Washington Post's Karin Brulliard reported on national efforts to vaccinate black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs against the plague: The ATVs and drones are being tested for use in firing blue, peanut-butter-flavored pellets that are the size of a gumball. The bait is laced with plague vaccine, and Fish and Wildlife says 60 to 90 percent of the prairie dogs gobbled it up in recent trials in Montana, Colorado and South Dakota. "These tests clearly indicated that these new mechanized vaccine delivery methods are practical, efficient and affordable," the agency said in a statement. Some parts of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and nearby areas will remain closed through Labor Day weekend, officials announced Friday. The areas include parts of the wildlife refuge and other open spaces in Commerce City, a suburb outside of Denver. Officials did clarify that Dick's Sporting Goods Park, an event venue nearby, will continue to host events but that parking was asphalt only, which is good news for those headed to the Phish show there on Aug. 30.

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