Plague in Wildlife

Most Americans' real experience with plague is limited to the history books we had in school. In the 14th century, it wiped out half of Europe's population. But right now, the bacteria is quietly ravaging wildlife in parts of the American West.
There are several types of the Plague and we will briefly touch on each one, what it does, how if effects humans and where it comes from.
We will start with the most famous form of the plaque, The bubonic plague: Rats and Mice are creditied with this disease, Fleas that come from the rodent will bite a person, thus starting the process that will end up very badly if not treated.

Bubonic Plague

The bubonic plague is a zoonotic disease that circulates on fleas; these fleas are found mostly on small rodents such as mice and rats.
It is kind of tough to explain this disease without going into many long lengthy medical descriptions, but I will try to explain this disease in layman’s terms.
The bubonic plague is the disease that wiped out 60% of the entire population of Europe in the 15th century, it is estimated that this form of the plague killed 25 million people, yes that is not a mistake, 25 million people, that is 25,000,000 people.

As stated earlier the disease is carried by fleas found on mice and rats, after the fleas from the animals bite a human, the bacteria is then injected into the human body after the bacteria is in the body it congregates in the lymph nodes where it colonizes and reproduces. These nodes are generally in the armpit, groin or neck area of the body.
Due to this being a bite-based form of infection caused by bacteria, the bubonic plague is often the first step of a progressive series of illnesses that include:

• Cold chills
• Ill feeling in general
• High Fever
• Cramps in your muscles
• Seizures
• Swelling of lympth nodes

How do you treat it?

This disease is treatable if caught in the early stages of development, it is estimated the only 1%-5% of people that are treated with this disease die, If the disease goes untreated aprox 40-60% of untreated cases end in death. If you feel that you have been exposed to this disease, you should seek medical help as soon as possible. This disease will detereate your health very quickly. This is a very deadly situation. if you have a rat or mouse problem, which is the root cause of this disease, you can contact a rat control expert in your area.
We have several other pages that are dedicated to many different types of diseases in wildlife.