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The “Black Death” returned to Colorado after an infected squirrel transmitted bubonic plague to a human in the state for the first time in five years.
It occurs when health authorities continue to monitor an outbreak of bubonic plague after a 15-year-old boy died in Mongolia from eating an infected groundhog, a type of ground squirrel.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is “carefully” monitoring China after local authorities ordered a pastor near the Mongolian border to be quarantined in an effort to prevent the spread of the deadly infection.
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The Black Death has somehow returned in recent years after devastating Europe in the Middle Ages. It has been classified as a reemerging disease, and the WHO estimates between 1,000 and 2,000 infections annually.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between one and 17 cases of human plague are reported in the United States each year, and four people were killed by the Black Death in the country in 2015.
The most recent case spread from an infected squirrel that tested positive in Jefferson County last week, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“The plague has been around Colorado since at least the 1940s, and wild rodent cases are reported in Colorado most years,” said Dr. Jennifer House, a state veterinarian for public health.
“While we see the highest plague activity during the summer, the disease can be found in rodents year-round and sometimes spreads to other wildlife species, as well as domestic cats and dogs.”
While no other cases were identified, health experts cautioned residents to take precautions to reduce the risk of transmission during this time of year, when plague is most prevalent in the state. There is no vaccine to prevent the spread of the plague, but if caught early, it can be treated with antibiotics in both people and pets. Symptoms include fever, headache, chills, weakness, and tender, tender lymph nodes.
The health department confirmed that the Colorado patient recovered and that the version of the disease was septicemic plague, which is found in the blood and cannot be transmitted to others.
“The disease is most commonly transmitted through the bite of an infected flea, but it can also be transmitted through infected tissues, fluids, or respiratory droplets,” the health department said in a statement.
A version of the plague spread in western Mongolia after a teenager caught and ate an infected groundhog, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
He died on Sunday.
Salud imposed a quarantine of 15 people for a week who came into contact with the boy in the Turgug district of Gobi-Altai province.
World Health Authority spokeswoman Margaret Harris said last week that they were monitoring case numbers in China after
“It is being well managed,” he said during a virtual press conference.
“At this time, we don’t consider it high risk, but we are watching and monitoring it carefully.”
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