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A man in his fifties is in critical condition in an eastern Oregon hospital with bubonic (‘black death’) plague. The man was trying to remove a dead mouse from the mouth of a stray cat, when the cat bit him. A few days later, he developed a high fever and other classic symptoms of the disease. There are about 11 cases of the disease in the US each year. Source.
About 1000-2500 cases of the infectious disease are reported globally each year, according to the CDC.. The plague is usually the result of a flea bite, but in this case, the stray cat was a carrier.
Plague is rare in the US. From CDC:
Plague is endemic in rural areas in central and southern Africa, central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the northeastern part of South America, and parts of the southwestern United States. Although rare, urban outbreaks of plague have been reported in Mahajanga, Madagascar. All ages are at risk for infection; however, risk to travelers is largely restricted to rural endemic areas. Only 1 case associated with international travel has been reported in the United States in the past 2 decades.
Image by dctim1, creative commons, flickr.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
There are three types of plague, with the following clinical presentations:
-Bubonic (more than 80%)—rapid onset of fever; painful, swollen, and tender lymph nodes, usually inguinal, axillary, or cervical
-Pneumonic—high fever, overwhelming pneumonia, cough, bloody sputum, chills
-Septicemic—fever, prostration, hemorrhagic or thrombotic phenomena, progressing to acral gangrene
In the United States, all cases of the plague are reported to the CDC, and CDC recommendations are followed. First-line therapy is IV antibiotics.
The name bubonic comes from the resultant bubo, or swollen lymph node draining the infected site. The symptoms occur 6-10 days after exposure, and without treatment the bacteria can enter the lungs, causing the form of plague listed above, pneumonic plague. Pneumonic plague is one of the most deadly diseases known; a patient can die within 24 hours of onset. Source- World Health Organization.
In the middle ages in Europe, the plague killed one-third of the population, and remains one of the worst disasters in Europe’s history. The plague is also estimated to have killed 25 million people in the sixth century during the Byzantine Empire. Source- wiki.
39 Comments
I hope this man is getting immediate treatment. Thank you for the warning.
Yes, he is in ICU in a hospital in eastern Oregon, receiving treatment, according to sources.
I was amazed, because it is so rare. Makes me wonder how many infected fleas there are in that area.
Scarey. Makes me itch.
I am scanning to figure out what the heck is in Cooke County. I do recall hearing about a Bubonic plague concern near Gunnison National Forest, Colorado but that was in the early 1970s.
Well, I did not hear of that county either, even though I grew up in Oregon. The articles say that the man is in a Bend, OR hospital (eastern Oregon) Eastern Oregon is a high-desert region in general, near the mountains.
I am assuming the man will recover, but it must be frightening to receive this diagnosis.
And ended the feudal system.
It also ravaged 17th century Europe.
In NM, it is not uncommon every year that we have cases. We had one this year already, recently a man in his 70s, maybe late 70s, I think, who survived.
And how’s the cat doing?
I was also reading where plague has been used, historically, in biological warfare.
http://www.aarc.org/resources/biological/history.asp
Plague has an interesting history, but unfortunately it has not been completely eradicated.
Thank you for your comment here, Synoia.
I was not aware of that,in NM. Good that the man survived. Amazing, given his age.
Thank you for stopping by, bgrothus.
The cat died.
“State public health veterinarian Dr. Emilio DeBess said the man was infected when he was bitten by the stray his family befriended. The cat died and its body is being sent to the CDC for testing.”
But also:
“Central Oregon health officials don’t blame the cat.
“The reality is that, in rural areas, part of the role of cats is to keep the rodent population controlled around our homes and barns” said Karen Yeargain of the Crook County Health Department.”
http://www.9news.com/news/sidetracks/272840/337/Oregon-man-bitten-by-stray-cat-diagnosed-with-the-plague
Good on the cats!
The man apparently has two forms of plague. He has bubonic and septicemic (see list above in the post).
Here is an update from 9 hours ago:
http://www.9news.com/news/sidetracks/272840/337/Oregon-man-bitten-by-stray-cat-diagnosed-with-the-plague
Doxycycline should clear it up,methinks
From Medline:
“People with the plague need immediate treatment. If treatment is not received within 24 hours of when the first symptoms occur, death may occur.
Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin are used to treat plague. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support usually are also needed.”
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000596.htm
so, yes doxycycline is listed in this class, although CDC prefers streptomycin as an IV first-line choice:
“Parenteral antibiotic therapy with streptomycin is the recommended first-line therapy; alternatively, gentamicin or, where treatment is limited to oral therapy, doxycycline can be used.”
CDC – Plague- link above in body of post.
That said, I am not sure if you were referring to humans or to cats, for treatment. Streptomycin is not available for veterinary use, so yes, I am reading here, doxycycline is the first line veterinary therapy.
http://www.avma.org/avmacollections/zu/javma_222_4_444.pdf
it is a fabulous drug,saved my life,when i had Rocky Mountain spotted fever,has many other purposes,a miracle drug,thanks for report Crane,more reason for PUBLIC HEALTH
oh and reccd
I agree, there are many reasons for public health and these are some examples. Thank you so much for the comment and the rec.
Bubonic Plague is studied at the University of Miami.
http://biomed.miami.edu/?p=482&pid=218&m=facultyph&mid=0&item=87
Plague is, I believe, the main control on prairie dog populations in the Rocky Mountain West. When I was in college, my microbiology professor said that the greatest plague epidemic in recorded history was–and probably still is–raging out here year after year, only no one notices, because the victims are the ubiquitous rodents.
Avoiding the epidemic is pretty easy, though. Never go into empty prairie dog colonies–they might be empty except for the hungry fleas that infected the extinct residents. Don’t handle, skin, or eat dead animals that you find lying around (yes–it has happened, according to the papers). And, finally, do not let your cat run loose–keep him indoors, where he is safe from cars and has less access to critters.
Good to see this research going on, very interesting, and thank you for the link.
This is good information to know. And, yes, I have heard of people retrieving roadkill, for example. A while back, there was an article about a man who has survived on roadkill for 30 years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/jonathan-mcgowan-roadkill_n_1016108.html
Roadkill might be marginally less risky, since it was presumably healthy until killed. I wouldn’t. But who knows? The rule against eating stuff that dies just on its own is probably ancient, though.
It’s important to keep a sense of proportion on this. A half dozen deaths per year isn’t very impressive considering all the other things that can kill a fellow. My biggest worry is traffic.
It was a problem for American soldiers in Vietnam – where it’s endemic. I remember being told by an American military surgeon that it was something he’d come across a fair number of times and that several of his patients died of it, more because they were medevaced to proper medical facilities too late than anything else.
It’s also endemic in Namibia several Irish police who served there as UN peacekeepers were infected.
There are a few cases in the EU and the US every year – and few is the operative word. The cases in the EU tend to be people who have acquired it while on holiday in Asia. In the US it’s mostly confined to the southwestern states.
I remember being at a conference on epidemiology a few years back and having a conversation with a genomicist who was part of a team studying whether plague was responsible for Europeans’ relatively strong immunity to such diseases as measles and smallpox. On balance her team believed the evidence was that it was.
mfi
You have given welcome scope, depth, and breadth to the old saw:
A plague on both of your houses.
And a great pox on anyone who disagrees!:>)
Thanks C-S and recommended.
fleas are horrible vectors of disease
Thank you for your comment and I agree that this is extremely rare in the bigger picture. I am fascinated with medical topics, though.
Very interesting comment, marfromireland, thank you. I’ll bet an epidemiology conference would be fascinating. As an aside, I was born in 1960. My father (now elderly and retired) was a pathologist who took his training at Emory and did some public health medicine in New Orleans (At Charity Hospital back then) where he saw a lot of strange tropical diseases and such. Anyway, the long and short of it is, he never allowed me to have a smallpox vaccination, because he felt that in many cases the ‘cure’ was worse than the ‘sickness.’ So, I never had one.
Just reading now, the last case of smallpox was diagnosed in 1977.
Interesting that plague may have contributed to eventual smallpox immunity.
Well, thank you doremus!
Here is a list of biblical plagues:
The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:[4]
Water, which turned to blood and killed all fish and other aquatic life (Exodus 7:14–25)
Frogs (Exodus 8:1–8:15)
Lice (Exodus 8:16–19)
Flies or [5] wild animals (Exodus 8:20–30)
Disease on livestock (Exodus 9:1–7)
Incurable boils (Exodus 9:8–12)
Hail and thunder (Exodus 9:13–35)
Locusts (Exodus 10:1–20)
Darkness (Exodus 10:21–29)
Couple of weeks ago, I picked up and petted a stray cat for a while before I realized it had all kinds of fleas, ticks, and mange. I felt so sorry for the cat, a very affectionate stray that everyone loves and feeds. The cat is a tom, it would be good if the neighborhood could pool resources and get him fixed and cleaned up. (We also have a group of cute feral cats).
good idea,i will contribute a tube of frontline or revolution,it would be my pleasure
I will speak to the couple who knows this cat the best. I am sure the cat would be more comfortable without all that, poor thing.
i can send it through an online company,like fosters and smith,and would make a small donation for its vasectomy…g
last one should be banksters……….g
LOL!
There was an episode of Secrets of The Dead on PBS a while back that dealt with the plague.
Here’s another explanation to The Black Death.
And here is the Secrets Of The Dead Episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZoHVLaF1hs
Thank you, c. I was looking around for a good documentary on this. Interesting that some people seemed to be ‘immune.’ Immunity suggests that they were at least exposed to something along the way during their lives. Appreciate the links, thank you again.
C-S:
Nice list but too Jewish! :>))