|
Plague in Washington State
Serologic sampling of 5,957 wild carnivores
collected between 1975 and 2006 statewide showed 3.8%
reactivity (source: DOH Zoonotic Disease program) indicating
that they are feeding on infected wild rodents and that
plague is an endemic disease in Washington State. However,
human plague infections are extremely rare: the last
reported human case was in Yakima County in 1984 in an
animal trapper who was exposed while hunting and skinning a
bobcat.
Purpose of Reporting and
Surveillance
-
To assist in the diagnosis and
treatment of cases
-
To identify potentially exposed
close contacts, health care workers and laboratory personnel
and to provide counseling
-
To identify sources of transmission
(e.g., wild rodents or other animals) and to prevent further
transmission from such sources
-
To raise the index of suspicion of a
possible bioterrorism event if no natural exposure source is
identified
Legal Reporting Requirements
- Health care providers: immediately notifiable to Local
Health Jurisdiction
- Hospitals: immediately notifiable to Local Health
Jurisdiction
- Laboratories: immediately notifiable to Local Health
Jurisdiction; specimen submission required
- Veterinarians: immediately notifiable to Washington
State Department of Agriculture or to the local health
jurisdiction
-
Local health jurisdictions:
notifiable to Washington State Department of Health (DOH)
Communicable Disease Epidemiology Section (CDES) within 7
days of case investigation completion or summary information
required within 21 days. If bioterrorism is suspected, case must be immediately
reported to DOH: 1-877-539-4344
Last
update
Jan. 2008
|
|
