Thursday the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment received confirmation from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment that a tree squirrel has tested positive for plague.

The area affected is the Eastern border of Garden of the Gods, including the Pleasant Valley neighborhood.

Health Department staff are informing and educating residents within the affected area.

They are going door to door and handing out pamphlets that contain information that cautions residents about plague.

Health Department staff has set up insecticide tubes that will aid in the control of infected fleas in the local tree squirrel population.

Plague is a bacterial disease of rodents transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected flea.

In humans the symptoms are high fever, chills, headache, extreme fatigue and tender or swollen lymph glands.

Health Department advises residents who experience these symptoms to contact their physician.

El Paso County’s last reported human case occurred in 1991.

Lee Griffen, the Health Department’s program director overseeing animal-to-human diseases, stresses that the public shouldn't’t attempt to catch, feed, handle or exterminate any type of squirrel, chipmunk or other wild rodent.

“Also, keep your dogs and cats under control and do not allow them to chase wild animals,” Griffen added.

“If you live in the affected area, it is especially important to keep cats indoors, because they are more vulnerable to plague than dogs.

Residents within the affected area should also clear property from trash, lumber piles, and other areas where animals my live or hide.”

If you find a dead squirrel in the affected area please contact the Health Department at (719) 575-8635.