From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-06-24 21:06:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Re report about bubonic plague in prairie dogs
>I read a report on the ABC news site about bubonic
>plague being discovered amongst prairie dogs in
>Colorado Springs - apparently due to fleas.
>That made me wonder about black footed ferrets
>catching the disease and, obviously, if it could
>spread via fleas to other animals.
>Any ideas?
It HAS led to starvation of predators in some areas due to the food
supply crashing, but I haven't read of a member of carnivora like the
BFFs getting it. Some might, but have not read of it. Canine
distemper has been a major worry for BFFs. Now, humans do get
bubonic plague, of course, but I don't know if this is at all related
to our being more closely related to rodents or not.