Fleas collected in northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona in Picture Canyon have been tested positive for plague. County Public Health Services District performed the task of conducting additional testing on prairie dogs Friday and disinfected their burrows.

Public health officials collected the fleas around the trails of the popular hiking area. The officials were directed to collect the fleas from that area after the prairie dogs were seen dying.

Officials have advised people to not go close to dead animals or handle dead animals or use insect repellant. Extra precaution should be taken by hikers and pet owners recreating in the Picture Canyon trail area, said the Coconino County Public Health Services District.

The infection was confirmed through lab results from Northern Arizona University. According to Coconino County officials, a general plague bacteria was carried by the tested fleas. The bacteria can present itself as either the bubonic or pneumonic strains, two of the three types of plague.

Marlene Gaither, environmental health program manager for Coconino County Public Health, said no prairie dog activity was noticed by them in the area. A dead prairie dog was seen at the entrance of the one of the burrows.

Gaither said that the critters give rise to possibility of a disease. It often happens that when plague hits a prairie dog colony most of the colony succumbs to it.

Gaither warned that these plague-infected fleas can be brought back by dogs to their owners. The officials have treated the area around Picture Canyon to ensure all infected fleas are killed and warning signs have been put at the trail head for hikers.

"This week we'll go back out - because it's a very large area - we'll do a little bit more of an extension of our surveillance and look around to see if we can find any other areas that are infected", said Randy Phillips, division manager for Coconino County Public Health.