Plague, Tick-borne Relapsing Fever & Rocky Mountain Fever Surveillance and Prevention in Coconino County and Grand Canyon (Poster)

In 2012, the Health District collaborated with Northern Arizona University and the Grand Canyon Park to conduct routine surveillance for plague, Tick-borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF), and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Grand Canyon Park. 

TBRF zoonotic disease caused three outbreaks in the County in the past 40 years. Two of the earlier outbreaks occurred at the North Rim. The first in 1973, which had 62 cases involving 35 visitors and 27 employees and the second outbreak occurred in 1990 and had 17 cases involving 15 visitors and 2 employees. The most recent outbreak occurred in 2009 at a cabin in Kendrick Park located north of Flagstaff. This outbreak had 3 human cases. 

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Another tick-borne disease of concern, which was just recently identified in Coconino County by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), which is caused by Rickettsia rickettsii.  The first index case of RMSF identified in Arizona was in the White Mountains in 2003. Since that year there have been as many as 250 cases and 19 fatalities. During 2012 CDC collected blood samples from dogs located in Coconino County from Tuba City and the Three Mesas. The CDC study results discovered that 16% to 32% of the dogs tested were seropositivity for RMSF.

The purpose of adding the above listed disease-causing agents to our plague surveillance and extending surveillance throughout the Grand Canyon is to have the ability to identify enzootic and epizootic activities in wild rodent populations so that actions may be taken to alert and protect the public from acquiring these zoonotic diseases.