According to Pamela Reynolds, an environmental scientist with the state environment department, owners of a pet cat reported that their animal was lethargic and had refused to eat for several days after they found it eating a dead rabbit. The cat was taken to the state Department of Health laboratory in Albuquerque, where blood samples were taken. It tested positive for plague antibodies. The extreme southwest United States is one of many places around the world that is currently confronted with plague, an acute, often fatal, and potentially epidemic disease caused by Yersinia pestis . Although it is not known how many companion animals contract plague each year in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said 341 humans living in the United States developed the disease between 1970 and 1995.
Plague exists in natural enzootic cycles involving wild rodents and their fleas.
It is often found in warm-weather areas. When fleas spread the disease from wild rodents to rats that live near human habitation, humans may become infected. The challenge facing the scientific community has been finding ways to prevent the spread of plague to human populations while instructing pet owners how to lessen the chance for plague infecting their pets. In 1996, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a federal committee comprising physicians and scientists that advises government about the science and policy of vaccines, convened at the CDC to develop revised recommendations concerning the prevention of plague. The group discussed vaccination, public health practices, and medical treatment to stop plague among humans.