Dogs and Ungulates

• Although dogs have never been demonstrated to be sources of infection for humans, they can become infected with Y. pestis and develop antibodies to this bacterium.
• Occasionally dogs exhibit clinical signs of illness, including lesions that could pose a risk of contagion.
• Probably the greatest plague-related threat posed by dogs is that they will transport Y. pestis-infected fleas or rodent or rabbit carcasses into residential environments.
• Y. pestis infections are rarely identified in ungulates (animals with hooves) in the United States, and these animals probably pose relatively little risk to humans.
• Any ungulate, however, that becomes seriously ill or dies under suspicious circumstances following an intentional release of plague should be examined to determine whether it was infected with Y. pestis.