Arizona Woman Catches Black Plague
Pastor Dale Morgan
Arizona Woman Catches Black Plague*
POSTED: 11:21 am PDT September 13, 2007
PHOENIX -- A woman in Apache County is battling an infection of the
Black plague, and state health officials are warning the public that the
disease appears to be on an upward trend in the state and more cases are
likely.
The human case is the first reported in the state since 2000, said Craig
Levy, vector borne disease program manager with the Arizona Department
of Health Services.
The human case follows the discovery of an outbreak of the disease in
prairie dogs in Flagstaff last month, Levy said Thursday. More
importantly, the distance between the cases indicate the disease has
become more active in the state's higher elevations.
"We know we have some plaque issues now in two north counties, which
makes us think we may be getting into another one of these plague
cycles, which means it may be popping up from time to time," Levy said.
"What we don't want people to think is that it is just localized in two
areas. The point is, plague activity can show up in any of the high
areas of Arizona."
The disease is confined to the state's higher elevations, generally
about 4,500 feet, so the state's desert areas are not generally affected.
The state has had 48 cases of human plague in the past 30 years, with 8
fatalities.
Since the state's last human case in 2000, a drought and high summer
temperatures have kept the disease at low levels.
Arizona health officials have been particularly wary about a plague
outbreak because of greater activity in New Mexico and other nearby
states in the past year, Levy said.
Plague can be contracted from fleas, rodents or other infected animals,
and people were being warning to avoid contact with animal burrows and
stay away from dead animals. Hunters and others who work with game
should take precautions such as wearing rubber gloves while skinning
animals, and cooking meat thoroughly to kill any plague, or a related
disease known as tularemia or rabbit fever.
They also should take steps to prevent their pets from roaming, and to
treat their pets with flea killers, because they can bring infected
fleas home.
"Pets basically turn into flea buses, essentially," Levy said.
Privacy laws prevented Levy from releasing much specific information
about the Apache County woman who is ill with the plague.
He said she began having symptoms early this month and the case was
confirmed through laboratory testing Wednesday.
Generally, people ill with the disease require hospitalization.
Plague killed millions in Europe in the Middle Ages and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention counts 10 to 15 human case a year in the
United States.
Symptoms in humans generally appear within two to six days following
exposure and include fever, chills, headache, weakness, muscle pain and
swollen lymph glands in the groin, armpits, or limbs. The disease can
become septicemic, which means it spreads through the bloodstream. It
also can become pneumonic, which affects the lungs.
The disease can be spread from human to human when it is in the
pneumonic stage. Cases are treatable with antibiotics, but the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention reports that up to 50 percent are
fatal if the disease causes pneumonia.