This following article is a few years old but if we ever get to travel again and you feel the urge to go fishing and seeing the great outdoors in the USofA then keep the following in the back of your mind.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/science/plague-is-found-in-new-mexico-again.html
Plague Is Found in New Mexico. Again.
The cause of plague, Yersinia pestis bacteria, in theforegut of a flea.Credit...Media for Medical/UIG via Getty Images
By· June27, 2017
The New Mexico Department of Health said this weekthat two women were found to have plague, bringing the total number of peoplethis year in the state known to have the disease to three.
All three patients — a63-year-old man and two women, ages 52 and 62 — were treated at hospitals inthe Santa Fe area and released after a few days, said Paul Rhien, a healthdepartment spokesman.
Health officials in New Mexico have more experience with plague than manymight expect: Every year for the last few years, a handful of people in New Mexico have come downwith plague. One person has died.
While the word“plague” may conjure images of medieval cities laid to waste by the BlackDeath, the disease is still a part of the modern world. It is much less commonthan it once was, but it is no less serious.
What Is Plague?
Plague is caused by thebacterium Yersinia pestis, which humans get when they are bitten byrodent-riding fleas. It decimated European cities during the Middle Ages,killing tens of millions of people, but today is found mostly in rural areas.
There are three main types of plague inhumans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: bubonic plague,pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. All three share general symptoms — likefever, weakness and chills — but each subtype carries its own fearsome markers.
Pneumonic plague causes a rapid and severe form ofpneumonia that can lead to respiratory failure and shock. It is the only typethat can be spread person-to-person through the air if someone inhales infectedwater droplets.
Septicemic plague, whichattacks a person’s blood cells, can cause skin or other tissue to turn blackand die, especially on the extremities, like hands and feet. It is caused byeither an infected flea bite or by handling an infected animal.
Bubonic plague is the best-known and common form ofthe disease. It is marked by the sudden appearance of bulbously swollen andpainful lymph nodes (called buboes) in the groin or armpits.
How deadly is Plague?
It can be very deadly. Fiftyto 60 percent of the cases of bubonic plague are fatal if they are not treatedquickly, according to the World Health Organization.
Paul Ettestad, the publichealth veterinarian for New Mexico,said plague can be treated with antibiotics like gentamicin and doxycycline,but it is important to catch it fast.
Pneumonic and septicemicplague can be more serious. The World Health Organization described them as“invariably fatal,” but there are some people who have survived these forms ofthe disease.
In 2002, a married couplefrom New Mexico contracted plague at home anddeveloped symptoms while they were on vacation inNew York. One of the patients, John Tull, developed septicemicplague.
Mr. Tull’s kidneys nearlyfailed, and tissue in his feet and hands turned black and began to die. He wasplaced in a three-month medically induced coma and doctors amputated both hislegs below the knee, but he survived.
How common is plague?
Plague is a lotless common now than it was in centuries past, when millions died in repeatedplague epidemics. From 2000 through 2009, there were 21,725 reported cases ofplague worldwide, according to the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Ofthose, 1,612 were fatal.
Most cases of plague diagnosed since the 1990s havebeen in Africa, particularly Congoand Madagascar, althoughoutbreaks have also happened in Asia and North and South America.
The American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene said56 plague cases were found in the United States — seven of them fatal — from2000 through 2009, the last year for which figures were available.
Why does it keep happening in New Mexico?
Plague arrived in the United States around 1900 on ships from China and soonjumped from fleas on urban rodents to fleas on rural rodents, Mr. Ettestadsaid.
It is now “entrenched” inlarge swaths of the western United States,with most cases occurring in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California, Oregon and Nevada, according to theC.D.C.
Plague in New Mexico has been especially persistent,Mr. Ettestad said. The state health department said it was found in four peoplein 2015, with one death. Four more people were found to have it in 2016; allwere successfully treated.
Mr. Ettestad said there wereenvironmental reasons that plague kept popping up in New Mexico. The area is home to vegetationlike pinyon and juniper trees, which, he said, support “a wide diversity ofrodents and fleas.”
That means thatonce plague has decimated one rodent species — say, the prairie dog — there arelots of other rodent species nearby it can jump to, like the rock squirrel.
“A lot of people have rock squirrels in their yard,and when they die, their fleas are very good at biting people,” Mr. Ettestadsaid. “We have had a number of people who got plague after they were bitten bya flea that their dog or cat brought in the house.”
What should I do if I think I have plague?
Medical authoritiesare unanimous on this: If you live or have recently returned from any areawhere plague is found (like New Mexico) and you develop symptoms of the disease, thenyou should immediately go to a doctor or hospital.
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https://www.cdc.gov/plague/symptoms/index.htmlSymptoms
Plague symptoms depend on how the patient was exposed to the plague bacteria. Plague can take different clinical forms, but the most common are bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic.
Forms of plague.Bubonic plague: Patients develop sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, and weakness and one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes (called buboes). This form usually results from the bite of an infected flea. The bacteria multiply in the lymph node closest to where the bacteria entered the human body. If the patient is not treated with the appropriate antibiotics, the bacteria can spread to other parts of the body.
Septicemic plague: Patients develop fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially on fingers, toes, and the nose. Septicemic plague can occur as the first symptom of plague, or may develop from untreated bubonic plague. This form results from bites of infected fleas or from handling an infected animal.
Pneumonic plague: Patients develop fever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery mucous. Pneumonic plague may develop from inhaling infectious droplets or may develop from untreated bubonic or septicemic plague after the bacteria spread to the lungs. The pneumonia may cause respiratory failure and shock. Pneumonic plague is the most serious form of the disease and is the only form of plague that can be spread from person to person (by infectious droplets).
Plague is a serious illness. If you are experiencing symptoms like those listed here, seek immediate medical attention. Prompt treatment with the correct medications is critical to prevent complications or death.
