[null and void]

*gentle cough*

Plague first came to the United States in the 1850's. The rail companies were importing Chinese Coolies to work on the transcontinental railway.

There was a small plague outbreak in San Francisco's Chinatown district. An alert doctor spotted the outbreak almost immediately, and appealed to the city council to institute a quarantine and rat catching program.

The town fathers refused to believe there was plague in their fair city.

They screwed around long enough for it to infect the local ground squirrel population where there was no hope stopping it from spreading. Thanks to their inaction, one can be exposed to plague anywhere in the western US.

Any parallels one wishes to draw with a more recent "gay plague" are left to the reader as an exercise.

Those who do not learn the lessons of the past...

[PROCON]

Hmmm. so the dog was infected last summer?

About the same time the "Dreamers" started showing up....Naw, just a coincidence.

[null and void]

[Fiji Hill]

In California, ground squirrels are said to be a possible source of plague. Interestingly, the California tree rat is the same subspecies as the rat that brought the plague to Europe, although I have never heard of any of them carrying the disease.

[stboz]

Must be a slow news day. This was almost a year ago.

[BigEdLB]

"The dog's owner remained hospitalized for 23 days as he recovered from the potentially deadly disease, the report said. In addition to the owner, a close contact of the owner and two veterinary employees who treated the dog or handled its body also became infected with the plague. All three were successfully treated with medication after exhibiting symptoms. "

At least the guy got over it. The new dog will probably made to avoid prairie dogs.

[meowmeow]

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Other Chinatown gifts.

[OldSmaj]

The dog, a 2-year-old American pit bull terrier...

Well, the only thing we can do is kill all the pit bulls, outlaw the possession of them, hunt them down and eradicate them.

(Throw a few chihuahuas in there, just to make it fair.)

[Mich Patriot]

The dog, a 2-year-old American pit bull terrier, became sick last summer with a fever and jaw rigidity, among other symptoms.

I kept hoping my ex would develop "jaw rigidity," but it never happened...hence the "ex" part.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks for posting this. My daughter is studying veterinary technology, works in a veterinary clinic, and lives in Arapahoe County. I just sent this to her — she hadn’t heard about it. She’s going to raise it at the college and clinic. It seems to have occurred in Arapaho, Adams, and Douglas Counties east and south of Denver. Sounds like they need more prairie dog shoots.

CDC article for more technical info here —> http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6416a1.htm?s_cid=mm6416a1_w

[Smokin' Joe]

Plague ping...

[Lazamataz]

We are so screwed.