Patient dies from the ‘Black Death' plague less than 24 hours after symptoms first emerged
PLAGUE ALERT Patient dies from the 'Black Death' plague less than 24 hours after symptoms first emerged
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A PERSON has died from plague just 24-hours after they showed up at hospital with symptoms, health officals have said.
The victim was rushed to Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona, US, showing severe symptoms, and died the same day, an email seen by local media suggests.
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An unidentified person has died from the plague in the US
An autopsy later confirmed the presence of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague.
Officials said the individual had pneumonic plague, the rarest and most dangerous form of the disease.
Unlike the more common bubonic type, pneumonic plague infects the lungs and spreads from person to person via airborne droplets.
Without urgent treatment, it can kill within just 24 hours, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns.
No further details about the patient have been released.
It is the first confirmed plague death in Coconino County, in northern Arizona, since 2007, when a case was linked to contact with a dead animal carrying the infection.
The Coconino County government said the risk to the public of exposure remains low.
"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased," Patrice Horstman from the county's Board of Supervisors Chair, said in a statement.
"We are keeping them in our thoughts during this difficult time.
"Out of respect for the family, no additional information about the death will be released."
The Black Death
The plague is infamously responsible for the 14th-century Black Death that wiped out half of Europe.
It remains on both the WHO and UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) priority pathogen lists due to its potential to cause a pandemic.
Though now rare and treatable with antibiotics, plague can still be deadly.
Pneumonic cases in particular are fatal in up to 90 per cent of patients if left untreated.
There are several forms of plague.
Bubonic plague, the most common form, is usually spread through the bite of infected fleas.
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The disease can cause tissue to turn black and die
Credit: Wikipedia
The disease can be transmitted to humans either by flea bites or through direct contact with infected animals, including pet dogs and cats.
The main symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, usually in the neck, groin, thighs, or armpits.
These swollen nodes, called buboes, can cause surrounding tissue to turn black and die, a symptom believed to have inspired the name "Black Death."
Septicemic plague occurs when the infection spreads to the bloodstream.
It can develop on its own or as a complication of bubonic plague, causing symptoms like fever, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into the skin and organs.
Pneumonic plague, the most severe form, infects the lungs and can spread rapidly between humans through airborne droplets.
It often starts as bubonic or septicemic plague that has spread to the lungs if left untreated.
Symptoms include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, and sometimes coughing up blood. Pneumonic plague requires immediate medical attention.
Last week, officials from the Coconino County Health Department reported several prairie dog deaths northeast of Flagstaff, which can be a sign of the disease.
However, health officials have since confirmed that the recent human plague death is not connected to the prairie dog die-off.
Risk to Brits is 'very low'
The WHO estimates between 1,000 and 2,000 cases occur globally each year.
On average, seven human plague cases are reported in the US each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Meanwhile, plague is no longer found in the UK, and the risk of imported cases is considered 'very low,' according to government guidance.
However, Covid jab scientists are developing a Black Death vaccine over fears the disease could re-emerge and kill millions.
The team behind the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine said they had made progress on an injection that could prevent bubonic plague from developing
The last significant British outbreak occurred in Suffolk in 1918, though a few isolated cases have been suspected since.
Recent infections have been reported in countries including the US, Peru, China, Bolivia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Russia.
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