Press Release

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, in cooperation with local public health agencies, is investigating plague (Yersinia pestis) activity. Currently, there have been laboratory confirmed reports of plague in animals and fleas from six counties.

REMOTE (July 16): Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment took to the skies this week, completing the state’s first airborne survey designed to monitor for methane and other emissions at major oil and gas sites in the Denver-Julesburg Basin. The initial flight is the first of many scheduled for 2021. The aerial surveys will focus on areas north and northwest of Denver in Boulder, Weld and Larimer counties.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is reporting West Nile virus in mosquitoes in Colorado for the first time this season. The mosquitoes were collected in Weld County. West Nile virus is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced Tuesday that it is now issuing its air quality health advisories in Spanish. The advisories can be found at a new dedicated webpage on the department’s air quality website.

Remote, July 7, 2021: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment notified Emergency Medical Services physician Medical Directors in a letter of the suspension of ketamine for excited delirium and agitation in the prehospital setting.

REMOTE (June 30): Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced today it has hired Joel Minor to serve as an Environmental Justice Program Manager and Nathalie Eddy as Air Quality Environmental Justice liaison. They will help coordinate the department’s and Polis administration’s ongoing strategies to promote environmental equity in Colorado.

REMOTE, May 18, 2021: A squirrel tested positive for plague in El Paso County last week, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reminds residents that it’s not uncommon for plague to be present this time of year.

(REMOTE: May 13, 2021): Starting tomorrow (May 14), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will station the Colorado Air Monitoring Mobile Lab (CAMML) at Eagle Pointe Recreation Center in Commerce City.

REMOTE (May 20): Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment today presented a proposal for new rules that aim to reduce vehicle traffic in Colorado, cut emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and improve air quality in the state.

REMOTE, April 21: After months of collecting feedback and gaining support from the agency’s boards and commissions and its volunteer Health Equity Commission, CDPHE has officially published a proclamation declaring racism as a public health crisis.