Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology
Division
Plague
Plague, a disease of rodents transmitted by fleas, is widespread in the western
United States. The epidemic form of the disease has been known since antiquity for the
devastation caused by world-sweeping outbreaks such as the "Black Death" in the
Middle Ages. Today, improved sanitation practices and rat control have reduced the threat
of epidemics in developed countries. Nevertheless, plague is firmly entrenched among wild
rodents in North America and individual cases continue to occur among humans exposed to
these animals and their fleas.
In Colorado, local health departments and county environmental health officers
have training in plague surveillance and control. Their agencies should be contacted
whenever your observations, especially large-scale rodent die-offs, arouse suspicions
about this disease.
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