Colo. prairie dogs hit with bubonic plague

BOULDER, Colo., Sep 29, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Health officials have issued a warning concerning bubonic plague-infected prairie dogs in the Boulder, Colo., area.

People visiting the Eagle Trailhead west of Boulder Reservoir are being advised to keep dogs leashed and wear pants and long sleeve shirts to avoid being bitten by fleas that spread the disease, the Boulder Daily Camera reported Thursday.

Bubonic plague is not an unusual occurrence in the area. The plague killed a small colony of the burrowing rodents in April in Boulder and later struck another colony near Table Mountain, northeast of the city.

Plague typically infects prairie dog populations in 8-year intervals and causes massive numbers of deaths in the animals, the newspaper said.

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