Montezuma County Public Health has identified a human case of plague in a resident, according to a news release Monday from the department.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Montezuma County Public Health Department continue to investigate the case and “will provide additional information as it becomes available,” the news release said. The unsigned news release was emailed to The Journal by Vicki Schaffer, public information officer for Montezuma County.
The news release did not provide details about when, how or where the infected resident might have contracted the plague or whether the infected resident was involved with other groups of people in activities where the potentially fatal disease could be spread.
In 2021, a 10-year-old girl in La Plata County died from causes associated with plague. Although the girl was identified as a member of the 4-H Club, no other people or domesticated animals were known to have been infected.
Lab tests confirmed that the girl died July 5, 2021, after being treated at Mercy Regional Medical Center. It was the first plague death in Colorado since 2015.
Within two weeks, officials with San Juan Basin Public Health announced that laboratory testing confirmed the presence of plague in a sample of fleas collected in south central La Plata County. San Juan Public Health and CDPHE contacted residents near where the plague-positive fleas were collected and encouraged residents to take precautions.