Vector-Borne Disease Awareness (By Abigail Smedly, CCPH)

It’s that time of year again! As we all spend more time outdoors in the summer months, it’s important to be aware of different animal-related diseases. Protect yourself by taking the following precautions: 

• Do not touch dead animals or try to handle live animals.
• Keep pets away from dead animals. Control fleas on pets.
• Stay on the trails. Check yourself and yoru pets for ticks after every hike.
• Consider wearing products containing DEET on skin and clothing, products containing permethrin on clothing.
• Avoid bites and scratches from animals.
• If bit by an animal, contact your doctor right away. 

Here is some more detailed information on different vector-borne diseases: 

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Avian flu is a virus that naturally spreads among wild birds. It can also infect poultry and other kinds of animals, including cows. 

While the risk to the general public is low, avoid direct contact with wild birds and observe them only from a distance. Wild birds can have avian flu even if they don’t look sick. Do not touch sick or dead animals, or surfaces contaminated with animal feces, if possible. Avoid tracking those materials home or to backyard flocks on boots and other items.

• Avoid contact with sick birds and other animals.
• If you must handle sick or dead birds or animals, wear recommended personal protective equipment, including an N95 respirator, eye protection, and gloves.
• Drink pasteurized milk. According to the FDA, pasteurization eliminates potentially harmful bacteria and viruses.
• Cook poultry and meat products to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and wash hands and surfaces when handling raw meat and poultry.
• Pets can also become sick with avian influenza. To mitigate avian flu exposure to your companion animals, CDPHE and the Colorado Department of Agriculture recommend against feeding raw poultry products to domestic animals, especially cats. Additionally, we recommend extra precautions when handling raw pet food or raw poultry, such as thoroughly washing hands and disinfecting surfaces.

Plauge

Plague is a disease that affects humans and other mammals. It is caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Humans usually become infected through the bite of an infected rodent flea or by handling an infected animal. Plague can be cured with antibiotics, but these must be given promptly to prevent serious illness or death. 

• Reduce rodent habitat around your home, workplace, and recreational areas. Remove brush, rock piles, junk, cluttered firewood, and possible rodent food supplies, such as pet and wild animal food. Make your home and outbuildings rodent-proof.
• Wear gloves if you are handling or skinning potentially infected animals to prevent contact between your skin and the plague bacteria. Contact your local health department if you have questions about disposal of dead animals.
• Use repellent if you think you could be exposed to fleas during activities such as camping, hiking, or working outdoors. Products containing DEET can be applied to the skin as well as clothing and products containing permethrin can be applied to clothing (always follow instructions on the label).
• Keep fleas off of your pets by applying flea control products. Animals that roam freely are more likely to come in contact with plague infected animals or fleas and could bring them into homes. If your pet becomes sick, seek care from a veterinarian as soon as possible.
• Do not allow dogs or cats that roam free in endemic areas to sleep on your bed.

Hantavirus

Hantaviruses can cause serious illness that affects your lungs and kidneys. Hantaviruses are spread from rodents to people. When fresh urine, droppings, or nesting materials of an infected rodent are stirred up, the virus can get into the air. You can become infected with the virus by breathing in the contaminated air. The virus can also spread when saliva, urine, or feces from an infected animal gets into cuts in a person’s skin or their eyes, nose, or mouth.

• People should avoid contact with rodent urine, droppings, saliva, and nesting materials. If mice or rats are in or around your home, it’s important to clean up after them safely.
• People who handle and clean up after rodents, such as pest exterminators and animal caretakers, or people who spend time in crawlspaces such as plumbers, are at higher risk of hantavirus exposure and should take precautions. People who work with live rodents or have rodents as pets can be exposed to hantaviruses through rodent bites or from touching the saliva, urine, droppings, or contaminated bedding from infected animals.
• People should avoid contact with rodent urine, droppings, saliva, and nesting materials. If mice or rats are in or around your home, it’s important to clean up after them safely.

https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html

Tick-Borne Disease

There are various diseases that can be spread through tick bites such as Colorado tick fever, Ticke-borne relapsing fever,Tularemia, Rocky Mountian spotted fever, and Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease is not currently thought to be in ticks originating in the state of Colorado, however it is imperative to still take precautions to protect yourself. 

Precaution methods include: 

• Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, or even on animals. Spending time outside walking your dog, camping, gardening, or hunting could bring you in close contact with ticks. Many people get ticks in their own yard or neighborhood.
• Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings. Alternatively, you can buy permethrin-treated clothing and gear.
• Avoid contact with ticks. Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter. Walk in the center of trails.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. EPA’s helpful search tool
• Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing. Any ticks that are found should be removed. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed. If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks.
• Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and daypacks.
• Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease and may be effective in reducing the risk of other tickborne diseases. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.
• Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, including your own backyard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check these parts of your body and your child’s body for ticks:
  • Under the arms
  • In and around the ears
  • Inside belly button
  • Back of the knees
  • In and around the hair
  • Between the legs
  • Around the waist

Check out the following links to learn more about each disease: 

• Colorado tick fever
• Tick-borne relapsing fever
• Tularemia
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Preventing tick-borne diseases

Rabies

Rabies spreads primarily through the bite of rabid animals. It usually is fatal in humans once symptoms appear. Preventive treatment is available if administered soon after exposure.

• People who have been bitten or scratched by an unfamiliar animal should contact their health care provider and their local public health department immediately.
• If your pet has had contact with a skunk, bat, fox, raccoon, or coyote, notify your veterinarian and your local health department.
• To report animals acting strangely, contact your local health department.
• Only mammals can carry rabies. Bats and skunks are the main sources of rabies in Colorado. Other mammals can be infected with rabies from bats and skunks. Domestic animals such as dogs, cats, cattle, and horses can become infected by being bitten by a rabid wild animal.
• Keep your pets up to date on rabies shots, and avoid contact with wildlife. A licensed veterinarian will ensure your animals are properly vaccinated by keeping the vaccine at proper temperatures, ensuring your animal is old enough and healthy enough for vaccination, and keeping proper records.

Eight ways to protect yourself and your family

1. Do not feed, touch, or adopt wild animals, and be cautious of stray dogs and cats. Rabid animals do not always appear vicious!
2. Teach children to leave wildlife alone. Be sure your child knows to tell you if an animal bites or scratches them.
3. Have your veterinarian (or local animal shelter) vaccinate your pets and livestock against rabies. Keep their vaccinations up to date.
4. Tightly close garbage cans and feed bins. Open trash and feed bags attract wild or stray animals to your home or yard.
5. Feed your pets indoors; never leave pet food outside as this attracts wildlife.
6. Keep outdoor pets in a fenced yard.
7. Avoid all contact with bats, especially bats found on the ground. If you find a bat on the ground, don’t touch it. Report the bat and its location to your local animal control officer or health department.
8. Call your doctor right away if an animal bites you. Contact your local health department to report the incident.

https://cdphe.colorado.gov/animal-related-diseases/rabies/rabies-in-colorado

West Nile Virus

West Nile virus is most commonly spread by infected mosquitoes and has been regularly reported in Colorado since 2002. There are simple precautions you can take to reduce your chance of acquiring West Nile virus.

To protect yourself:

• Use insect repellents when you go outdoors. Repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus, as well as para-menthane-diol products, provide the best protection. To learn more about insect repellents, including information on products, active ingredients, and safety, visit the EPA’s information webpage. Follow label instructions.
• Limit outdoor activities at dusk and dawn. That is when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear protective clothing, such as loose-fitting long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and tall socks. Mosquitoes can bite through tight clothes, so loose-fitting clothes provide better protection.
• Drain standing water around your house at least once a week. Empty water from tires, cans, flowerpots, clogged gutters, rain barrels, birdbaths, toys, and puddles.
• Install or repair screens on windows and doors.

You are most at risk for West Nile virus from June through early September when mosquitoes are most active. However, Colorado often continues to see West Nile virus reports through the month of October, until cooler temperatures cause mosquitoes to go dormant until spring.

While having fun outdoors can be the best part of summer, it’s important to be aware of disease risk and protect yourself accordingly.