Colorado health officials have issued a warning after the bubonic plague was found in fleas from a prairie dog, according to the Associated Press.
A notice in Boulder County stated "wild rodents and other small mammals may be infected with plague," including rabbits, prairie dogs and squirrels.
The warning comes after a resident said prairie dogs died on their property, according to 9 News via the Boulder County Health Department.
"The fleas don't travel large distances, so it's nothing we're seeing spread or becoming an epidemic," Boulder County Public Health Consumer Protection Coordinator Lane Drager told the Daily Camera. "It's confined to one area. But if pets are going into those areas, they are risking exposure for themselves and for those pet owners."
Though health officials say "plague occurs naturally in Colorado," it is the first confirmed case since a domesticated cat and a dead squirrel tested positive for it in 2011, according to 9 News.
According to Boulder County's website, locals should be aware of plague symptoms such as fever and chills, severe headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, swelling in the lymph nodes and extreme pain.
"Plague can spread to humans when infected fleas from squirrels, prairie dogs and other wild rodents bite a human," said a health department press release.
Though plague can be treated with antibiotics, the notice suggests:
"Avoid fleas, protect pets with flea powder or drops, ... keep pets on a leash and out of wild rodent habitats, avoid all contact with wild rodents ... do not need feed or handle them, prevent rodent infestation around your house, ... treat known rodent sites around your home with flea powder, stay out of areas that wild rodents inhabit."
A health official also said people should avoid visiting Boulder's 44-acre Marshal property which is home to a large prairie dog colony, according to the Daily Camera.
The plague has been active every year since 2005, according to Heather Swanson, a wildlife ecologist for Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
