New Mexico health officials: Santa Fe County dog diagnosed with plague
A dog in Santa Fe County has been diagnosed with plague but has recovered from the illness, the New Mexico Department of Health reported Friday.
The agency raised the alarm about the diagnosis because plague can pass to humans through flea bites or contact with infected animals.
'Plague is a bacterial disease in wildlife that pets can be exposed to by eating an infected animal or through bites of infected fleas,' Erin Phipps, New Mexico's public health veterinarian, said in a statement. 'Humans can also contract it through flea bites but also risk getting plague through direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, wildlife and pets.'
The agency is recommending precautions including ensuring pet food and water bowls are kept away from rodents and other wildlife; keeping hay, wood and compost piles away from homes; and getting flea control for any pets.
The dog has recovered, the Health Department said in a news release announcing the illness. The agency noted the risk of death can be decreased by quick diagnosis and treatment.
Last year, there was one human plague case in the state. The last time an animal was diagnosed with plague was 2021, when a cat in Los Alamos County contracted the disease.
While plague is more prevalent in the summer months, Health Department spokesperson David Morgan said the bacteria is present in the state year-round. Wildlife — and the fleas hitching a ride on them — are more active during the summer. Humans and pets also typically spend more time outside during the summer months.
'Put those together and you have more opportunities for plague exposure,' Morgan wrote in an email to The New Mexican.
Between 1977 and 2023, the majority of feline plague cases have been in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties. Over the past two decades, plague diagnoses in cats have been decreasing.
After a spike in the 1980s, human cases also have dropped. Between 2020 and 2023, there were only five human cases in the state: one in Rio Arriba County, one in Santa Fe County and three in Torrance County.
There's an association between rain and plague cases.
'For example, a large spike in the 1980s is correlated with El Niño climate patterns causing above average precipitation in New Mexico,' Morgan wrote.
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