This Year's Second Colorado Plague Patient Died

Plague has killed the second person this year in southern Colorado, according to cbc.

The adult from Pueblo County died of the "relatively rare septicemic form of the disease", said Christine Nevin-Woods, the medical officer for the Pueblo City-County Health Department. Fleas from a dead rodent or some other animal may have made him ill.

Said Sarah Joseph, public information officer for the Pueblo City-County Health Department: "Testing is either of animals that have recently passed away, like prairie dogs, or fleas that can be caught," according to usatoday.

Worryingly, the septicemic plague is a rare form that is tough to diagnose, as it does not lead to lymph node swelling seen in many plague patients. It was in June that a 16-year-old star baseball player from northern Colorado died of this kind of plague.

In such cases of septicemic plague, the bacteria directly enter the blood stream, so that symptoms of fever, chills and abdominal pain, make it look like the flu. The bubonic plague leads to the spread of infection through tissues into the lymphatic system, leading to swelling. Pneumonic plague spreads the disease through coughing.

However, while plague patients are rare in the US, deaths are even rarer.

Every year, there is an average of seven human plague cases. However, last year, Colorado reported eight cases. Small animals have been showing a rise in the number of cases, including rabbit fever, even as a wet spring led to "lush vegetation" and a spurt in the number of animals.

Antibiotics immediately after the infection can check the spread of the disease.