Officials Confirm Case of Bubonic Plague in Colorado, Ask Public to Limit Its Spread

by EditorK
A case of the bubonic plague was confirmed in individual in Colorado, officials said Tuesday.

Image of plague bacteria Yersinia pestis in a file photo. (U.S. National Institute of Allergy Infectious Diseases)

By Jack Phillips, Breaking News Reporter 

A case of the bubonic plague was confirmed in an individual in Colorado’s Pueblo County, officials said on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Pueblo County Department of Public Health said that it “confirmed a human case” in a resident of the county, adding that it will continue “to investigate a potential source and asks the public to take the precautions” to limit the spread of the bacterial infection.

Last week, the county agency reported a suspected case of the plague after preliminary test results were returned. The source of the infection is still being investigated, they said in the previous news release.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the plague circulates via fleas, occurs in wild rodents, and rarely spreads to people. Infected fleas that bite people are the primary vectors of the plague, while the bacteria can also be transmitted by touching infected animals or inhaling droplets from the cough of an infected individual or an animal.

Human cases of the plague, caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, are not unheard of in the United States. In March, a New Mexico man died of the disease, while officials in Oregon confirmed a case in February, which they said may have been linked to an infected cat.

Anyone who develops symptoms of the plague is advised to seek immediate medical attention, officials say.

Symptoms of the plague can include sudden high fever and chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, skin sores in rare cases, and malaise, or a feeling of general illness, health officials say. Specific and common plague symptoms include swollen lymph nodes and pain.

“Plague can be treated successfully with antibiotics, but an infected person must be treated promptly to avoid serious complications or death,” Alicia Solis, a program manager at the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, said in last week’s news release.

The agency advised that locals try to “protect themselves and their pets from plague,” including removing places where rodents can live near people such as rock piles, trash, piles of wood, and brush. Further, it advised Pueblo residents to not allow pets to sleep in bed with them, treat cats and dogs for fleas on a regular basis, and not allow pets to hunt or roam in rodent-infested areas.

“Avoid contact with dead animals. If you must handle sick or dead animals follow these guidelines,” the county agency added. “First, put on an insect repellant to protect yourself from fleas. Then use a long-handled shovel to place it in a garbage bag. Lastly, place the bag in an outdoor garbage can.”

According to the CDC’s data, an average of seven plague cases are reported in the United States each year, occurring primarily in western states. Most cases occur in New Mexico and Arizona, the agency says.

Around the world, more than 3,200 human plague infections were reported between 2010 and 2015, most often occurring in Peru, Madagascar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, says the World Health Organization. Of that figure, 584 people died.

The CDC separately says that a vaccine for the plague is “no longer available” in the United States, while new vaccines “are in development but are not expected to be commercially available in the immediate future.”

Rodents that often spread the plague in the United States include rats, mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs, chipmunks, and ground squirrels, according to the CDC.

During the Middle Ages, a pandemic of the plague often called the “Black Death” killed millions of people across Europe and the Middle East. In 2013, researchers confirmed that the “plague of Justinian,” a pandemic that affected the Middle East and Europe, was also caused by the plague bacteria.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times’ news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California’s Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5 

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