A New Mexico man recently died this week due to bubonic plague, a disease that brought Europe to its knees during the Middle Ages multiple times.
The man was previously reported as the first case in the state since 2021 and the first death since 2020.
Officials said they were conducting an environmental assessment to determine ongoing risk, but they have also advised people to take necessary actions to prevent getting infected with the bacterium Yersinia pestis and to immediately contact health centers for immediate hospital treatment in the event of an infection.
Facts About the Plague
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), people infected with Y. pestis develop symptoms after an incubation period of one to seven days. The plague is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, direct contact with infected tissues, and/or inhalation of infected respiratory droplets.
Bubonic plague infection is one of two main clinical forms of the disease, with pneumonic being the other. Between the two, bubonic plague is the most common form, characterized by painful swollen lymph nodes or 'buboes.'
The main difference between a bubonic plague and a pneumonic one is that Y. pestis enters the body at the site of the bite and travels through the lymphatic system to the nearest lymph node, where it replicates itself and becomes a "bubo."
Human-to-human transmission of bubonic plague was rare, but when it advances and spreads to the lungs, it leads to the more severe type of plague called pneumonic plague.
The plague could be a "very severe" disease in people, with a case-fatality ratio of 30% to 60% for the bubonic type.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the bubonic plague, or the 'Black Death' was one of "mankind's worst pandemics" that killed more than 25 million people or at least a third of Europe's population during the 14th century.
It continues to be endemic in some parts of the world, with the WHO warning that it is currently most endemic in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Peru.
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Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention
The WHO added that people infected with the plague usually develop sudden onset of fever, chills, head and body aches, weakness, vomiting, and nausea.
Diagnosing the plague entails lab testing, where experts look at a sample of pus from a bubo, blood, or sputum to detect a specific Y. pestis antigen.
The WHO further warns that untreated pneumonic plague could be "rapidly fatal." Antibiotics and supportive therapy are effective if patients are diagnosed in a timely manner.
"Pneumonic plague can be fatal within 18 to 24 hours of disease onset if left untreated, but common antibiotics for enterobacteria (gram negative rods) can effectively cure the disease if they are delivered early," the WHO website stated.
It is also important to raise awareness and inform people when zoonotic plague is present in their environment by taking precautions against flea bites and not handling animal carcasses.
In addition, people should avoid direct contact with infected body fluids and tissues and maintain standard precautions when handling potentially infected patients and collecting specimens.
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