According to a CNN report, an elderly person has died from plague this month. Utah health officials had confirmed the incident this Thursday. The health officials believe that the victim might have contracted the plague from a flea or contact with a dead animal. This recent incident brings the death number to four in the United States.
Investigations are on-going as to how and where exactly the victim contracted the plague. The victim was not known to have travelled to any area where plague is common. No other information about the patient has been disclosed.
According to JoDee Baker, an epidemiologist with agency said, "That's the most common to get it. That's probably what happened but we're still doing an investigation into that."
Similar case of plague has been reported in Food World News earlier this month. Recently, a kid in California was also diagnosed with the same plague. It was reported that the child contracted the plague while camping at Stanislau National Forest and Yosemite National Park. A teenager in Larimer County and an adult in Pueblo County already died earlier this year.
This rare disease is common among areas where wild rodents can be found. This is the first human case of plague in Utah since 2009 according to Baker. The state has cases of this animal plague every year especially in rural areas.
The cases number of cases of plague this year is higher than usual according to CDC last Tuesday. Since April there has been 12 cases of human plague reported in the United States. The average number of cases between 2001 and 2012 was seven, with less than one death a year. However Dr Paul Mead said four deaths so far this year was not necessarily a cause for alarm. "Yes it's twice as many, but when you're dealing with small numbers, you have that kind of variation."
Patients usually develop symptoms between two and six days after exposure. These symptoms generally include feeling sick, a sudden fever, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Patients can be successfully treated with antibiotics but only if they are diagnosed and begin treatment early.
