| No sylvatic cycle has been reported in Asia as suggested in Africa. |
| In 1985 the last wild population experienced simultaneous epizootics of canine distemper and sylvatic plague. |
| That obstacle is sylvatic plague, an exotic disease fatal to black-tailed prairie dogs. |
| Small, burrowing rodents such as the deer mouse, for instance, spread the deadly hantavirus, and squirrels often carry sylvatic plague. |
| In addition to sylvatic plague, a disease likely brought from Europe by ship rats, prairie dogs have suffered from aggressive poisoning campaigns by farmers and ranchers. |
| Health officials have found sylvatic plague in squirrels in Angeles National Forest. |
