Arizona resident dies from pneumonic plague, health officials say
Health officials in Coconino county, which incorporates part of the Grand Canyon national park and lies north of Flagstaff, confirmed the death on 11 July.
Pneumonic plague, a severe lung infection, is rare in humans, with only about seven cases reported annually in the US. Unlike bubonic plague, which killed millions in medieval Europe, it can be spread through airborne droplets.
While both are caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, bubonic plague is transmitted through rodent flea bites or contact with contaminated material – and it primarily affects the lymph nodes while pneumonic plague causes pneumonia and respiratory symptoms.
Authorities said the person, whose age, name and gender have not been released, had entered the Flagstaff Medical Center emergency department and died on the same day.
Hospital operator Northern Arizona Healthcare said in a statement that 'despite appropriate initial management and attempts to provide life-saving resuscitation, the patient did not recover'.
The death of the Coconino county resident marks the first recorded pneumonic plague death in the county in 18 years but not the most recent human plague case in Arizona – the state has recorded seven cases of plague since 2006.
Nationally, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says about seven human cases of plague are reported annually across the country, but only 15 plague deaths have been recorded in a 23-year period beginning in 2000. Most cases have been seen in rural areas in the west.
Typically, the CDC says, Yersinia pestis cycles naturally among wild rodents. And while most people contract the disease though flea bites, they can become infected through exposure to sick pets, especially cats.
The plague death comes as officials in the county are investigating a sudden die-off of prairie dogs north-east of Flagstaff that may be caused by plague. County officials have said they do not think the human plague death and the prairie dog mortalities are related.
But they also issued guidelines about how to avoid contracting the plague, including avoiding contact with wild animals, touching sick or dead animals, camping near rodent burrows, or sleeping directly on the ground. They advise using insect repellent and tucking the cuffs of your trouser leg into your socks.
Coconino county health officials said the risk of human-to-human transmission of pneumonic plague is low. The last such transmission was in Los Angeles in 1924, according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) data.
Still, the symptoms of the Black Death – named for black spots that appeared on infected bodies – remain present. US health officials say plague symptoms typically appear within eight days after exposure and may include fever, chills, headache, weakness and muscle pain, and some may develop swollen lymph nodes (called 'buboes'), most commonly in the groin, armpits or limbs.
But the timing of the human plague death, and the prairie dog die-off, is raising concerns. Plague is one of many diseases endemic to the south-western US, including West Nile virus, hantavirus and rabies.
Trish Lees, communications manager for Coconino county, told the Arizona Republic the number of prairie dogs that have died was unknown.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A Multi-State Salmonella Outbreak Is Linked to These Frozen Beans — Are They in Your Freezer?
To date, there have been 11 confirmed illnesses across 10 states. The U.S. is experiencing a massive Salmonella outbreak, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes it has finally pinpointed the to the FDA, the outbreak was first identified in October 2024, following the first reported case of illness. The most recent individual to fall ill as part of the outbreak was on June 24. The FDA revealed on July 17 that the source of the outbreak is Chetak LLC's Deep-brand frozen sprouted mat (moth) beans and frozen sprouted moong (mung) beans. The agency identified the problem through routine sampling. "The product samples tested positive for Salmonella, and whole genome sequencing analysis determined that the Salmonella present in the samples matched the strain causing illnesses in this outbreak," the FDA added. It noted that, to date, 11 people have been reported ill in connection with the outbreak from 10 different states, including Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington. In response to the news, the brand and the FDA issued a recall notice for several of its products. The recall includes the following:Deep-brand Sprouted Mat (Moth) in one-pound (454 grams) packages with the following lot codes printed on the back side of the bag: IN 24330, IN 25072, IN 25108, IN 24353, IN 25171, IN 24297, IN 25058, IN 25078, IN 24291, IN 25107, IN 24354, IN 24292 Related: America Has a Growing Food Safety Crisis No One Is Talking About Deep-brand Sprouted Moong (Mung) in one-pound (454 grams) packages with the following lot codes printed on the back side of the bag: IN 24330, IN 25072, IN 25108, IN 24353, IN 25171, IN 24297, IN 25058, IN 25078, IN 24291, IN 25107, IN 24354, IN 24292 Salmonella, the FDA explained, is a "group of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness and fever called salmonellosis." It added that it can spread through food handlers who "do not wash their hands and/or the surfaces and tools they use between food preparation steps, and when people eat raw or undercooked foods." While most people infected with Salmonella recover without treatment, those with weakened immune systems, children, or the elderly are especially vulnerable to severe cases. Usually, symptoms appear within 12 to 72 hours after infection and can include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, according to the FDA. Though more severe cases of salmonellosis may involve a "high fever, aches, headaches, lethargy, a rash, blood in the urine or stool, and in some cases may become fatal." According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "approximately 450 persons in the United States die each year from acute salmonellosis." If you've purchased the product, the FDA recommends that you discard it immediately. If you've already consumed the product and become ill, contact your healthcare provider right away. Read the original article on Food & Wine Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What causes Parkinson's disease? Scientists uncover an unexpected new clue.
More than 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to symptoms such as tremors, slow movement, limb stiffness, and balance issues. Scientists still don't know what causes the disease, but it's thought to develop due to a complex mixture of genetic and environmental factors, and treatment is still quite limited. But new research is putting scientists one step closer to some possible answers. In a recent study published in JCI Insight, researchers found a common virus, called human pegivirus (HPgV), in the brains of patients who had Parkinson's disease when they died. Although HPgV infections don't usually cause symptoms, researchers believe the virus may be playing a role in the development of Parkinson's. 'The hypothesis is that a long-term, low-burning infection might lead to these sorts of diseases,' such as Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, says Barbara Hanson, a researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and one of the authors of the paper. Here's what we know so far. Over 500 viruses screened In this study, researchers screened for over 500 viruses in the autopsied brains of 10 patients who had Parkinson's disease and compared them to the autopsied brains of 14 control patients, who were matched for age and gender. In five of the patients with Parkinson's, they found the presence of HPgV, while none of the control patients had the virus. In order to bolster their findings, researchers conducted follow-up experiments that looked at the blood samples of patients who were in different stages of Parkinson's disease. What they found was that patients who had Parkinson's and were positive for HPgV had similar immune system responses, including a lower level of an inflammatory protein called IL-4, which can either promote or suppress inflammation depending on the situation. They also found that patients who had a specific Parkinson's-related gene mutation had a different immune system response to HPgV, compared to patients with Parkinson's who didn't have the mutation. 'It was a very thorough study,' says Margaret Ferris, a neurologist and researcher at Stanford University who was not part of the study. She adds that this offers a possible mechanism for the interaction between genetics and environment. Why Parkinson's disease is so hard to study Although the presence of HPgV in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease is suggestive of a link, the full answer of what causes the neurodegenerative disease is more complex. Parkinson's disease has always been hard to study, due to the fact that it develops slowly, over many years, and is difficult to diagnose in the earlier stages. 'One of the hard things about investigating neurodegenerative disorders is that it is very hard to identify people who will get neurodegenerative disorders, but don't yet have them, and to study and watch them,' Ferris says. Further complicating this matter is the fact that there doesn't seem to be one single trigger for Parkinson's disease. 'It is difficult to determine the causes of Parkinson's, because they are likely multifactorial,' says William Ondo, a neurologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, who specializes in treating patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Ondo was not part of the study. Currently, Parkinson's disease is believed to develop from a complex mixture of genetic and environmental factors, with individual triggers varying from one person to another. This makes studying the potential causes of the disease quite challenging, and means that there still aren't definitive answers to what can trigger the condition. It's likely that some people may develop Parkinson's disease as a result of multiple triggers. 'Everyone is on their own path,' to developing Parkinson's disease, says Erin Furr-Stimming, a neurologist at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, who was not part of the study. Link between viral infections and neurodegeneration In recent years, there has been a growing body of evidence to suggest a link between viral infections and the development of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. This includes the recent discovery that Epstein-Barr virus is a major trigger for multiple sclerosis, as well as a number of associations between viral infections and neurodegenerative conditions. Parkinson-like symptoms have also been triggered by a number of viral infections, such as West Nile virus, St. Louis Encephalitis virus, and Japanese Encephalitis B Virus. As Hanson notes, inflammation in the brain has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative disorders, with viral infections being a potential trigger for this inflammation. 'Any amount of inflammation in the brain can trigger a number of cascades that lead to the loss of normal homeostatic brain function,' Hanson says. 'It's possible that viral infections are one of those triggers that lead to inflammation in the brain.' Other potential reasons that viral infections may lead to neurodegeneration include direct damage to neurons from the virus, or the accumulation of misfolded proteins. However, while this recent study offers evidence of a suggested link between HPgV and the development of Parkinson's disease, there's still more research needed before a clear link between the two can be established. 'This study doesn't show a cause-and-effect relationship—it just suggests there may be a relationship between pegivirus and Parkinson's,' says Joseph Jankovic, a neurologist and director of the Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine. In order to understand the connection further, Jankovic says, 'this study needs to be replicated in a different cohort of patients.' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Northern Kentucky University teams up with nonprofit to train mental health care professionals
A mental health care shortage is impacting communities across Kentucky, and now, Northern Kentucky University is teaming up with a local organization to train the next generation of professionals. Solve the daily Crossword