Laboratory testing at the University of Wyoming has recently confirmed a Johnson County cat was infected with plague, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. No human cases have been identified at this time. The cat’s home is in Kaycee and the animal is known to wander outdoors. The illness was confirmed by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie.State health officer Dr. Alexia Harrist points out that plague is a serious bacterial infection which can be deadly for pets and people if not promptly treated with antibiotics. However, it is treatable, and if treated it does not spell certain death as it did during the Black Plague. This is the third plague-infected cat identified in Wyoming over the past six months; the others were in Sheridan and Campbell counties. Only six human cases of plague have been exposed in Wyoming since 1978 with the last one investigated in 2008. There is an average of seven human plague cases each year in the United States.
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