RESIDENTS AWAIT RESULTS OF PLAGUE TESTS.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer Los Angeles County health experts and residents of two mobile-home parks are awaiting the results of blood tests from 15 cats and two squirrels to see whether any are infected with plague. Blood tests from the cats and squirrels were taken this week after a cat caught at Rancho Mirage mobile-home park tested positive for sylvatic sylvatic /syl·vat·ic/ (sil-vat´ik) sylvan; pertaining to, located in, or living in the woods. sylvatic found in the woods; occurring in animals of the forest. plague, which is endemic among ground squirrels in the San Gabriel and Tehachapi mountains. Results from the latest tests are expected to be released in three to four weeks. ``We're just investigating the area,'' said Dr. John Urrico, a veterinarian veterinarian /vet·er·i·nar·i·an/ (vet?er-i-nar´e-an) a person trained and authorized to practice veterinary medicine and surgery; a doctor of veterinary medicine. vet·er·i·nar·i·an n. for the Los Angles County Department Health Services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract . ``We're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. areas where this cat could have got infected.'' The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed Oct. 19 that a feral cat brought Sept. 1 to the Lancaster animal shelter was infected with plague. The 6-month old cat was brought into the shelter by Rancho Mirage staff, who routinely set out traps for stray cats. The cat showed no signs of illness, but was tested as as part of a random check for plague, officials said. ``It didn't have the plague, it was just exposed to the plague,'' said Urrico. ``The exposure doesn't cause the disease.'' Since the positive test results, officials have notified residents of Rancho Mirage and the adjoining Hacienda Mobile Home Park and asked them to bring in their cats to be tested. On Monday, Rancho Mirage residents brought in eight cats to be tested. On Wednesday, health officials tested two stray cats brought in from Rancho Mirage, two cats trapped at Hacienda Mobile Home Park and three cats brought in by their owners from Hacienda. Samples of blood also were take from two ground squirrels. Officials also are hoping to trap a coyote coyote (kī`ōt, kīō`tē) or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. It is found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country; it is also called brush wolf. that lives in the area. ``We're still in the beginning stages of our investigation,'' said Urrico. ``We just have to make sure that the trailer park is not infested in·fest tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: .'' While plague is common among wild animals in certain areas, it seldom spreads to humans. The last known human case of plague in Los Angeles County was in 1984. A Tehachapi man died from the virulent pneumonic pneumonic /pneu·mon·ic/ (noo-mon´ik) 1. pulmonary (1). 2. pertaining to pneumonia. pneu·mon·ic adj. 1. Relating to, affected by, or similar to pneumonia. form of plague in 1995. A Tehachapi woman caught the plague in 1997. |
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