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Plague

Prairie dogs with the plague keep parts of Colorado wildlife refuge shut down

Parts of a Denver-area wildlife refuge remain closed after the entire area shuttered in late July when authorities discovered prairie dogs infected with a form of the plague, officials said over the weekend.

Part of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge reopened Saturday while the public was still barred from other areas, a precautionary measure likely to last until early September, wildlife officials at the refuge said in a statement

The 15,000-acre refuge located just outside Denver is home to eagles, ducks, geese, bison, coyotes and deer, among other species.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials employed insecticide around black-tailed prairie dog colonies to kill plague-infested fleas. The refuge said in early August that staff was "monitoring prairie dog areas for signs of sylvatic plague."

"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," Dr. John M. Douglas, Jr., executive director of Tri-County Health Department, said in a statement.

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Sylvatic plague is a disease caused by Yersinia pestis, the same bacteria that causes the bubonic plague.

It primarily affects rodents and fleas, which can spread plague to humans through their bite or when people handle infected meat.

The plague, which has caused massive epidemics and widespread deaths across the globe at various points in history, can today be treated with antibiotics.

Although the last urban epidemic in the United States occurred in the 1920s in Los Angeles, an average of seven human plague cases occur each year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say. Most of the cases occur in rural areas in the western U.S., the CDC says.

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller

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