Tag Archives: Red Lake

Fleas test positive for plague in Coconino County

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RED LAKE – Coconino County Public Health Services District (CCPHSD) officials confirmed that fleas collected in the Red Lake area, approximately five miles northeast of Williams, tested positive for plague (Yersinia pestis). The tests were conducted by the Center for Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University.

CCPHSD is notifying area residents. The burrows are being treated and the area will be closely monitored to determine if further action is required.

This is the first location in the County where fleas have tested positive for plague this year. Because the disease is endemic in Coconino County, there are likely additional locations with infected fleas. CCPHSD Environmental Health staff will continue to collect and test flea samples from locations throughout the County.

CCPHSD is urging the public to take precautions to reduce their risk of exposure to this serious disease, which can be present in fleas, rodents, rabbits and predators that feed upon these animals. The disease can be transmitted to humans and other animals by the bite of an infected flea or by direct contact with an infected animal. To limit possible exposure, people are encouraged to avoid rodent burrows and keep dogs on a leash as required by Arizona State law.

An abundance of active prairie dogs doesn’t indicate disease is present. However, a sudden die-off of prairie dogs and rodents, may be an indicator of plague. Persons noticing a sudden die-off of rodents or rabbits are urged to contact CCPHSD Environmental Services at 928-679-8750.

Symptoms of plague in humans generally appear within two to six days following exposure and include the following:  fever, chills, headache, weakness, muscle pain, and swollen lymph glands (called “buboes”) in the groin, armpits or limbs. The disease can become septicemic (spreading throughout the bloodstream) and/or pneumonic (affecting the lungs), but is curable with proper antibiotic therapy if diagnosed and treated early.

Persons living, working, camping or visiting in areas where plague and/or rodents are known to be present are urged to take the following precautions to reduce their risk of exposure:

  1. Do not handle sick or dead animals.
  2. Prevent pets from roaming loose. Pets can pick up the infected fleas of wild animals, and then pass fleas on to their human owners. This is one of the common ways for humans to contract plague. Cats with plague can also pass the disease on to humans directly thorough respiratory droplets.
  3. De-flea pets routinely. Contact your veterinarian for specific recommendations.
  4. Avoid rodent burrows and fleas.
  5. Use insect repellents when visiting or working in areas where plague might be active or rodents might be present (campers, hikers, woodcutters and hunters).
  6. Wear rubber gloves and other protection when cleaning and skinning wild animals.
  7. Do not camp next to rodent burrows and avoid sleeping directly on the ground.
  8. Be aware that cats are highly susceptible to this disease and while they can get sick from a variety of illnesses, a sick cat (especially one allowed to run at large outside) should receive care by a veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment to reduce human exposure to plague.
  9. In case of illness see your physician immediately as treatment with antibiotics is very effective.

 

More information is available at https://www.cdc.gov/plague/.

Sheriff meeting at High Country Fire stresses community

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RED LAKE – Sheriff Jim Driscoll held a forum of over 200 people at the High Country Fire Station on Highway 64 concerning the recent murders of 67-year-old Michael and his 64-year-old wife Nora Dimuria. The crowd was so large they had to move the fire truck out of the station to make room for the standing-room-only audience. Sheriff Driscoll was joined by the County Supervisor for District 3, Matt Ryan who also called for a community response to assist in the efforts of the Sheriff’s Department. [Video at web site.]

“We need you as a community. The Sheriff needs you as a community to help, to be the eyes and ears, to bring in support for one another,” Ryan said.

Sheriff Driscoll began his comments by encouraging everyone in the community to get to know their neighbors and share information. He then laid out a chronology of the events leading up to the arrest of a suspect.

To see communities come together; to see communities experience tragedy, you can make the best of it or you can make the worst of it.” Sheriff Driscoll said later in his talk. “You can use this as an opportunity to pull together or you can use this as an opportunity to become divisive. You know there’s great concern when a tragedy occurs and there’s bad guys out there that we don’t resort to going vigilante. ”

On Tuesday, May 2nd, at approximately 9:00 am the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a neighbor of the victims reporting he had found his neighbor dead. Sheriff’s deputies from the Williams District responded to the location and upon further investigation in the residence found two deceased adults, one male and one female who had resided at the home. The Sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Unit out of Flagstaff was contacted and responded to the location. The victims were identified as the home owners, 67-year-old Michael Dimuria and his 64-year-old wife Nora Dimuria. The couples’ white 2006 Jeep Liberty 4 door vehicle was missing from the home.

The morning of May 6, 2017, the Sheriff’s Office received a tip from an area resident that a potential suspect was fleeing to Colorado. Throughout the day, Sheriff’s Office conducted interviews and worked with Colorado agencies. The Dolores County Sheriff’s Office located the missing Jeep Liberty in South Western Colorado near Dolores after they received a call from a community member who reported the vehicle as suspicious and possibly abandoned.

The possible suspect obtained a different vehicle and later in the evening the suspect fled the area and a high-speed chase ensued, with the subsequent firing on pursuing law enforcement. Law enforcement performed a pit maneuver on the suspects’ vehicle, rolling it. The suspect, 29 year-old, Derrick Shawn Barnett, from Grand Junction, Colorado, was arrested on outstanding Colorado warrants and is in-custody in Montezuma County, Colorado. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is comfortable that this suspect is a suspect in our Red Lake area double homicide. Sheriff’s Office detectives are in route to Colorado to continue the investigation.

There was some concern about the lack of information flow to the public. Sheriff Driscoll explained that they only want to release information that they know as fact.

Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and Coconino County Emergency Management Present Community Emergency Response Team Training

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coco-sheriff-300pxThe Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and the Coconino County Emergency Management Division will present a (three) day Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training class at the High Country Fire-Rescue Station located at 6593 High Country Lane off of Highway 64. More than fifty CERT classes have been delivered to urban, rural and reservation communities throughout Coconino County.

The class will be held at the High Country Fire-Rescue Station beginning Friday, January 23, 2015 from 6 pm to 9 pm, Saturday, January 24, 2015 from 8 am to 5 pm and Sunday January 25, 2015 from 8 am to 5 pm. This training session is offered to all community members free of charge.

CERT Classes are offered by the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and upon successful completion each participant will receive a Community Emergency Response Basic Certification and a back pack containing basic community emergency first responder gear to include Reflective Vest, Hard Hat, Eye Protection, Gloves, A four in One Tool and a CERT Field Response Guide.

Successful participants who wish to serve their community will be invited to join a team in Coconino County and will receive additional in-service training and will assist their local First Responders during Emergency and Non-Emergency events. CERT Team members in Flagstaff meet monthly for additional training. CERT Volunteers have been utilized during responses to Wild Land Fires, Flooding, Tornados, Heavy Snow Storms and many other natural disasters. CERT Volunteers have served in a variety of capacities to include staffing road blocks, assisting with neighborhood evacuation notification, staffing joint information call centers, assisting with Incident Command Centers, distributing neighborhood safety information and in many other areas. Community members who would like additional information or who wish to register for the basic training that will be conducted at the High Country Fire-Rescue Station are encouraged to call the Community Programs Office of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 226-5089.
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