The phrase bubonic plague conjures up thoughts of death and destruction, but most of us don’t think twice about it because we view it as something in the past. However, doctors and health authorities in Idaho were shocked to find out that it has returned.
According to Express, it’s the first human case in Idaho in decades.
The bubonic plague or “Black Death” killed millions of people in the Middle Ages, basically half of the population The deadly strain was believed to have been brought to Europe on merchant ships through rats. Eight people have been diagnosed with bubonic plague in Oregon since 1990.
Several squirrels tested positive for the disease in 2015 and 2016 in Elmore County, Idaho which is where the current case originated from. A young boy was diagnosed with the condition earlier this week.
Thankfully, the child is recovering from the first case of human plague in Idaho 26 years.
“It appears this case was bubonic plague … the child had a high fever that prompted his parents to take him to a health care provider where he was treated and tested,” Christine Pearson, a spokesperson for the Central District Health Department, told BuzzFeed News.
It’s unclear whether the child contracted the disease in Idaho or a recent trip to Oregon. The plague is normally found in rodent populations in both states but rarely infects people.
There have been two cases in Idaho and eight in Oregon since 1990.
Plagues still occur in modern day but we hear about them less since the disease is rare and can often be treated with antibiotics. But the disease can still turn deadly.
Plague cases in the U.S. normally take place in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and Nevada. There are about seven cases of the plague in the U.S. each year.
A teenage boy in Colorado died from it in 2015 after experiencing flu-like symptoms for a week.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are typically about 1,000 to 2,500 cases of plague anually that come from Africa, Central Asia, India, and the northern part of South America.
An outbreak occurred in 2017 in Madagascar that caused 2,417 cases and 209 deaths. It’s a lot easier to treat and prevent the spread of plague these days before the situation gets out of hand.
The plague is caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis which is typically spread to humans from infected fleas or rodents.
An Oregon man contracted the plague in 2012 after trying to pull a mouse from his cat’s mouth, according to News9. Other animals like rats, rabbits, and chipmunks can also become infected when they get infected fleas on them.
Humans get it through flea bites and can be caused when their pets bring fleas in their home. They also get it by coming into contact with contaminated fluids or cough droplets.
So, you’d have to be in close proximity to get it from someone and that would be something called pneumonic plague.
Bubonic plague accounts for about 90 of plague cases in the humans. Symptoms include fever, headache, chills, weakness or swollen lymph nodes. You can protect yourself by making sure your home and workplaces are rodent-proof, avoid contact with wild rodents, using gloves to dispose of rodent carcasses, treating your pets for fleas, preventing them from hunting or eating rodents, and using insect repellent with DEET when you are outdoors.
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