07/30/2025
PLAGUE DEATH IN ARIZONA (Source: Your Local Epidemiologist)
"Over the weekend, Coconino County, Arizona, reported a death from pneumonic plague. This is the same bacteria behind the Black Death that killed tens of millions in 14th-century Europe. But the situation today is very different.
We know how to diagnose and treat it. Antibiotics can treat it, and hospitals in endemic regions are trained to spot and manage it. But timing is everything; the plague moves fast and can overwhelm the body in hours. In this case, the patient died the same day he arrived at the hospital.
It usually spreads through fleas after contact with infected animals like prairie dogs, rabbits, or rodents. Pets, especially cats, can also bring the infection into homes if they roam and hunt outdoors.
It’s regional. In Arizona, the bacteria circulate naturally in wildlife, which is why the disease is considered endemic to the region. It’s also endemic in Northern New Mexico, Southern Colorado, Nevada, California, and Southern Oregon.
Person-to-person spread is possible, but rare. Only pneumonic plague, when the lungs are involved, can spread through respiratory droplets. The last known U.S. case of this type of transmission was over a century ago.
It’s extremely rare. The U.S. reports between 0 and 17 cases per year. The last death was in 2021."
