Plague confirmed in Colorado: Authorities urge vigilance

Authorities in Pueblo County, Colorado, have confirmed a case of bubonic plague (the most common form of plague) in a human. An investigation into the infection is ongoing. The Department of Health has not yet revealed details about how the infection occurred or the patient's health condition.

Alicia Solis, Director of the Office of Infectious Diseases and Emergency Preparedness, calls on everyone to take preventive measures.

We advise all individuals to protect themselves and their pets from plague, Solis urges.

Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, typically found in rodents, small mammals, and their fleas. Humans are often infected through bites, direct contact with infected bodily fluids, and inhaling droplets from infected persons or animals.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), human-to-human transmission of bubonic plague is rare. However, the disease can be transmitted when an infected person develops the most severe form of pneumonic plague. This form of the plague wreaked havoc in the Middle Ages when the pandemic, known as the Black Death, decimated Europe's population. It is estimated that between 1346 and 1353, it killed as many as 50 million people.

Dr. David Bland and a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland conducted research shedding new light on plague transmission. The findings suggest that not only rats and fleas but also lice may have been responsible for the spread of the plague. According to researchers, lice are more effective at transmitting the Yersinia pestis bacteria than previously thought.

Unlike in the Middle Ages, when patients were treated with bloodletting or herbal smoke, bubonic plague can be relatively easily treated today with antibiotics. However, early diagnosis is crucial.

Symptoms of bubonic plague can appear one to eight days after infection. The first sign is painful lymph nodes, usually closest to where the bacteria entered the body. Other symptoms include fever, headache, chills, and weakness.

If the disease spreads to the lungs, it can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing, and sometimes bloody or watery sputum. This form of the disease is called pneumonic plague.

Left untreated, bubonic plague can lead to tissue necrosis, causing the skin and other tissues on fingers, toes, and other body parts to turn black and die.

The plague has occurred in animals and caused human outbreaks everywhere except in Oceania. Between 2010 and 2015, there were 3,248 reported cases and 584 deaths worldwide. Most cases occur in Africa, particularly in Madagascar, which reports up to 700 cases annually, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru.

In the USA, an average of seven cases are reported annually, mainly in rural areas in the western part of the country. The last urban plague pandemic in the USA occurred in Los Angeles and ended in 1925.