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A person in northern Arizona, United States, died after contracting pneumonic plague, one of the diseases caused by bacteria contraction Yersinia pestis.
Pneumonic plague is caused by the Yersinia Pestis bacteria – Photo: Getty Images/BBC
The patient died less than 24 hours after entering the Flagstaff Medical Center Emergency hospital, located in Coconine County. This was the first death caused by the disease in the county since 2007.
In the note issued by the US press, the hospital said the patient received proper initial treatment, and efforts to perform his resuscitation were performed, but to no avail.
The most common forms of the plague are bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, Pneumonic plague arises when bacteria spread to the lungs of a patient who has not been treated for the bubonic or septicemic plague, or when a person inhales infected droplets expelled by the cough of another person or animal with pneumonic plague.
Although rare these days, the bubonic plague – known for killing between 30% and 60% of the entire population of Europe in the Middle Ages – is still reported in rural areas.
Symptoms, transmission and prevention
Symptoms usually appear between two and six days after infection and include swollen and painful lymph nodes and lymph nodes, most commonly found in armpits, groin and neck.
The bacteria Yersinia pestis It is usually transmitted from one animal to another through infected fleas. Usually it reaches small mammals, such as rats. In humans, transmission occurs in three ways:
- by the infected fleas bite;
- by direct contact with contaminated materials or with body fluids from someone sick;
- by inhalation of respiratory droplets of patients contaminated with pneumonic plague.
- When the transmission is done by the flea, the person usually develops the bubonic version of the disease. The transmission between humans usually leads to the pneumonic form of the infection.
To prevent the disease, it is recommended to avoid contact with rodents, take care of flea bites and not handle animal carcasses, and avoid contact with contaminated body tissues and fluids.
