US teen dies from rare case of plague

[Gert van der Hoek]

US teen dies from rare case of plague

Date June 21, 2015

Colorado: A 16-year-old boy who appeared to have the common flu has died from a rare case of the plague, officials said.

Taylor Gaes' illness didn't present with the telltale sign of the infection - swollen lymph nodes - which would have alerted officials to the illness sooner, said Katie O'Donnell, a Larimer County Health Department spokeswoman.

Instead, he suffered from a fever and muscle aches, which at first made his sickness look like the flu.
The plague is "very rare, which makes it hard to diagnose," O'Donnell said Saturday.


Taylor died on June 8 but officials revealed his illness Friday.

In the last 30 years, three people in Larimer County, in north central Colorado, contracted the plague, O'Donnell said.
The chance that others may have contracted the illness while attending memorial services for Taylor on his family's property is small, officials said.

MORE:

 

[Emily]

[h=1]Officials: Rare form of plague killed Poudre student[/h] Jason Pohl, The Coloradoan 10:35 a.m. MDT June 20, 2015
...

Two days after first getting sick, the family had to leave a Colorado Rockies game in the fifth inning because Gaes was in too much pain. He appeared to be feeling better, and his parents put heating pads on his back ? he and his dad watched comedy shows until 2 a.m.
"He was laughing. I was laughing," Shannon Gaes recalled.
But about 5:30 a.m. Monday, Taylor Gaes woke up his parents to tell them he had just coughed up blood...

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/new...e-form-plague-killed-poudre-student/29031569/

He passed away before reaching the hospital.

 

[alert]

While it is encouraging that this is a septicemic and NOT a pneumonic plague case, is anyone else disturbed by the fact that he attended a Colorado Rockies game while ill? He could have come in contact with a large number of people.

 

[Emily]

While it is encouraging that this is a septicemic and NOT a pneumonic plague case, is anyone else disturbed by the fact that he attended a Colorado Rockies game while ill? He could have come in contact with a large number of people.

It sounds like he wasn't coughing until just before he died, so that must be why health officials are not worried about transmission. He actually initially fell ill right after pitching a ball game at his high school.

Gaes -- a sophomore at Poudre High School -- began experiencing flu-like symptoms after pitching at a baseball game on June 4, Katie O’Donnell from the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/septice...ry?id=31941907

It's a sad irony that school is only a 6 min drive from CDC's big lab where they research plague and other vector borne diseases.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/201+...72!2d40.576619

 

[Emily]

In the video at the link below, Mr. Gaes says that they did not know Taylor had plague until after the memorial ceremony.

[h=1]Taylor Gaes' father: We need time to mourn[/h] Katie de la Rosa 4:28 p.m. MDT June 24, 2015
... "This is by far the toughest thing that we've ever had to handle,'' Shannon Gaes said.
Shannon Gaes said he wanted people to be aware plague is out there and there are preventative steps that can be taken to avoid becoming stricken.
"At this point we have no idea where he got it or how he got it." Shannon Gaes said, adding that his son had been all over the Livermore and Red Feather Lakes areas, where their ranch is located....

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/06/23/live-video-plague/29169175/