MHSC
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A Torrance County woman was listed in critical condition Tue 5 Jun 2007, with plague. The state Department of Health said the 58 year old woman developed bubonic plague, which progressed to plague pneumonia. The department did not say where the woman was hospitalized. Officials are investigating her home to determine if there is a risk to other people. It was the 2nd case of plague confirmed in New Mexico in 2007. A San Juan County man recovered after being infected in April 2007. Plague, a bacterial disease of rodents, usually is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas. However, it can be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, wildlife, and pets. Prompt treatment with antibiotics can greatly reduce the fatality rate.
Plague takes 3 forms -- bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Symptoms of bubonic plague in humans include fever; painful swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck areas; chills; and sometimes headache, vomiting, and diarrhea. Pneumonic plague [affects] the lungs. Septicemic plague, which occurs when the bacteria multiply in the blood, also can have symptoms of high fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Most people become ill 2 to 7 days after being infected. "With the warmer weather there will likely be an increase in plague activity in wild rodents, especially in the north central and north western parts of the state, where we have traditionally found most of the plague activity in New Mexico," said Dr Paul Ettestad, the Health Department's public health veterinarian. The department recommends prevention measures, including avoiding sick or dead rodents; teaching children not to play near rodent nests or burrows, treating pets regularly with flea control products, cleaning up areas near houses where rodents could live; and keeping pets from roaming.)
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=11745
Plague takes 3 forms -- bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Symptoms of bubonic plague in humans include fever; painful swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck areas; chills; and sometimes headache, vomiting, and diarrhea. Pneumonic plague [affects] the lungs. Septicemic plague, which occurs when the bacteria multiply in the blood, also can have symptoms of high fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Most people become ill 2 to 7 days after being infected. "With the warmer weather there will likely be an increase in plague activity in wild rodents, especially in the north central and north western parts of the state, where we have traditionally found most of the plague activity in New Mexico," said Dr Paul Ettestad, the Health Department's public health veterinarian. The department recommends prevention measures, including avoiding sick or dead rodents; teaching children not to play near rodent nests or burrows, treating pets regularly with flea control products, cleaning up areas near houses where rodents could live; and keeping pets from roaming.)
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=11745