# The Plague in Colorado



## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

> "The message we're trying to get out is that the plague bacteria is present here in Colorado, and to take necessary precautions to avoid getting infected,"
> A Colorado man is infected with the rarest and most fatal form of plague, an airborne version that can be spread through coughing and sneezing.


Deadliest, Rarest Form of Plague Contracted Near Denver - Bloomberg



> The state is working “to investigate the source of exposure and to identify those who may have been exposed through close contact with the individual,” the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in its statement. “Any individuals exposed will be recommended for antibiotic treatment."
> 
> it is the first case of pneumonic plague seen in the state since 2004, and rather stunningly, he appears to have contracted the illness from his dog. "We don’t think it’s out in our air," House said. "We think it’s in our dead animal populations."


Stay clean. Stay safe.
This stuff is all over.


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## spencerhenry (Jun 21, 2004)

maybe if we were still allowed to shoot the rodents they would not be so populous as to be susceptible to diseases like this!


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## CoBoater (Jan 27, 2007)

and i thought this thread was about texans when i clicked on it. i dont think shooting a few rats is what would keep us all from getting this stuff. stay safe out there!


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## jmack (Jun 3, 2004)

As if you needed another reason to leave the front range...


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## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

There was something a few years back about a Mad Cow variant in the deer and/or elk in Colorado.

Look, I doubt anyone is free of these things.


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

Bill, you are thinking of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk. It has been known in Colorado for a good 15 years or more now though it has likely been around much longer than that. It is very different from the plague. CWD is not a bug at all. It is a prion protein, a protein that is denatured all the way to its tertiary structure that binds to the lymph nodes, spinal cord and brain. It causes a spongiform encephalopathy; eats holes in the brain. You have to swap a bunch of spit or eat a bunch of the animal, especially the parts that have the prions in them, to become infected. It has an Alzheimer's like effect after time. The human forms have been called crutzfeldt jacob disease, or kuru ( named after a cannibal tribe that came down with it) and takes years to form. It is still debatable whether CWD can be transferred to humans since there are no linked cases yet. It was my main focus in college and by the research I did, it will transfer. Scrapies in sheep and mad cow disease in cows transferred so why not CWD. Is is thought to have transferred to the deer and elk from sharing grazing land and swapping spit with infected sheep. Just dont shoot an emaciated deer that is alone and walking in circles and you should be fine. You might even be fine if you dont get spinal or lymph fluid on the meat while dressing or butchering. You can also turn in the head to the DOW and have it tested. In some units it is required. Probably way more than you wanted to know.


The plague is a bacterium that has a 3-7 day incubation rate and kills much faster. A week without the right treatment will more less put you on your deathbed, especially if you get it in your lungs.


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## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

zbaird said:


> Bill, you are thinking of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk. It has been known in Colorado for a good 15 years or more now though it has likely been around much longer than that. It is very different from the plague. CWD is not a bug at all. It is a prion protein,


Yeah. IT IS A MAD COW VARIANT. Like I said.

BTW.

Chlorine nor most anything else will not kill those prions.
I saw years ago where one research had buried some in his back yard.
They were still viable a couple years later.
They have to be physically destroyed by fire or the like.

Choose yer jerky carefully over there.
You wouldn't want any snacks where some careless fool cut up game poorly and got some brain or spinal in with the meat.

======

That you should be fine doesn't include those developing a wasting disease.
Skip the head shots.


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