instal the new version for mac Disease Infected: Plague

Most human cases of infection with Yersinia pestis present as one of three different forms of disease: bubonic, septicemic, or pneumonic. However, if undiagnosed and untreated, people can die from the plague, just like they did in the fourteenth century. The good news is that although a very severe and potentially fatal illness, the plague can usually be treated with common antibiotics. Between 19, twenty-three of the 297 reported cases of human plague in the U.S. In fact, most human cases of primary pneumonic plague in the U.S.-and there have only been a handful since 1924-have been caused by inhalation of respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing infected domestic cats. Cats in particular are highly susceptible to plague, developing symptoms similar to those in humans, and have been implicated in transmitting plague to humans in numerous cases.

People can also be exposed to plague via their pets if they’ve acquired fleas from infected wild animals or been infected themselves. This includes handling infected animals, coming into contact with their tissues or bodily fluids, eating infected animals, being bitten or scratched by infected animals, or inhaling infectious respiratory droplets. Humans can also get the plague through direct contact with infected animals, both living and dead. Fleas that have fed on infected rodents can spread the infection to humans and other animals by biting them. The plague persists in nature by infecting wild rodents-including mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, and prairie dogs-and their fleas. Tufts Now: What is the plague, and who is at risk?įelicia Nutter: The plague is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. Tufts Now spoke with Nutter about the ancient disease, who’s still at risk, and how to protect yourself and your pets. The plague has never left-it has been here all along, even in the United States-and it can usually be treated with antibiotics, so long as it is properly diagnosed. “When you hear about the plague, you may think of the Black Death-the epidemic estimated to have killed 50 million people or more during the 1300s,” said Cummings School assistant professor Felicia Nutter, V93.īut there’s no need to panic, said Nutter, a board-certified wildlife veterinarian and epidemiologist. With pandemic anxiety at a worldwide high because of COVID-19, the last thing anyone wants to see in the news is word of another plague-especially the plague, which has recently been reported in people in China and Mongolia and, closer to home, in a squirrel in Colorado.

Instal the new version for mac Disease Infected: Plague