The CDC has recorded 91 cases of plague since 2000, an average of between 5 and 6 a year.
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An unusually high number of plague cases has been documented in the US this year, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) cautions in a report released this Tuesday. “It is unclear why the number of cases in 2015 is higher than usual”, a CDC statement reads.
Since April 1, 2015, a total of 11 cases of human plague have been reported in residents of six states: Arizona (two), California (one), Colorado (four), Georgia (one), New Mexico (two), and Oregon (one).
Bubonic plague is the most common type of plague and accounts for 80 percent of cases today.
(2015), “Plague is a rare, life-threatening, flea-borne zoonosis caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis“. Of the patients, three died after contracting the disease.
The cases in California and Georgia have been linked to areas in or near Yosemite National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, the report says. In 2014, there have been 10 plague instances, and in 2013 and 2012, there have been 4 instances annually. “Once they start getting the more severe symptoms it’s a little harder to treat, usually requires hospitalization and that can be a little tricky”. Nevertheless, with antibiotics remedies out there in the present day, the dying price has dropped to about 16 %. It can be transmitted to humans if they are bitten by the fleas, or through contact with other infected animals or humans. Davis, Faculty of Veterinary Drugs, speculated that the California drought could also be one cause for the rise in plague instances in that state. (The last time California had plague cases, besides this year, was 2006.) If the drought is limiting food options for rodents, the animals may be seeking food in campgrounds, he said.
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To stop plague, the CDC recommends that individuals who participate in outside actions in areas the place the illness is endemic ought to put on lengthy trousers, use insect repellent, and keep away from with ailing or lifeless animals. (Endemic areas include rural and semirural areas in the western United States, according to the CDC).
