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FLAGSTAFF — Health officials in Coconino County are warning the public to avoid contact with wild animals and to treat their pets for fleas after the discovery of bubonic plague in a Flagstaff suburb.

Two prairie dogs were found dead last month in Doney Park northeast of the city, prompting officials to test for plague in the area. After collecting fleas from the animals' burrows, testing at a lab at Northern Arizona University confirmed the presence of the disease.

Plaque is transmitted by fleas from infected animals, and residents are being urged to avoid contact with dead animals or burrows where animals appear to have disappeared. They also should treat their pets for fleas, especially those that are allowed to roam outdoors.

Plague is ever-present in the Flagstaff area, and often associated with prairie dogs, Coconino County environmental specialist Hugh Murray said. A colony can be wiped out by the disease one year and then eventually repopulate.

No human cases of the disease have been reported in the county since 1996, but people and their pets can become infected if they are bitten by infected fleas. People also can contract the illness from an infected pet that coughs or sneezes.

Symptoms in humans generally appear within two to six days following exposure and include fever, chills, headache, weakness, muscle pain and swollen lymph glands in the groin, armpits, or limbs, according to the health department. The disease can become septicemic, which means it spreads through the bloodstream, and/or pneumonic, which affects the lungs.