Who knew...
" A child has contracted the plague after a camping trip to Yosemite National Park and Stanislaus National Forest, prompting state health officials to launch an emergency investigation and perform an environmental evaluation to determine if the bacterial disease has spread." San Francisco Chronicle/Jenna Lyons, 8/6/15, "Plague found in child camping in Yosemite National Park." (article byline only).
| Got Plague? |
with modern times or developed countries like the United States. .... The agency said in a press release that "the individual may have contracted the disease from fleas on a dead rodent or animal." It's the first such case of someone in Pueblo County contracting the plague since 2004. CNN/Health/Colorado Plague death, 8/6/15. "Adult dies of plague in Colorado."
.... "While plague is unusual in the U.S. an average of seven cases are reported every year and people can die from it if they don't get treated. .... Just as in the Middle Ages, when plague swept across Europe and Asia, people catch the bacterial infection from fleas. Plague's usually easily treated with antibiotics if doctors diagnose it in time.
There are three forms: bubonic plague, which affects the lymph glands; septicemic plague, a body-wide infection that can develop if early plague infection isn't treated; and pneumonic plague, which is the only form that spreads from person to person. Most people who catch it have handled or been near rodents. California officials say they're posting extra signs cautioning people not to feed animals and to stay away from dead animals.
The take-home message: don't feed rodents, don't touch dead rodents and keep your pet away from them. .... Symptoms include a sudden fever, a severe headache, nausea and chills. It can feel like flu.
Rodents carry more dangerous diseases than plague." NBC News/Health/Maggie Fox, 8/7/15. "Girl being treated for Plague after trip to Yosemite."
Note graphic by RAD from Ilumintor.Deviant art,"The dead rat".
Posted by Kathy Meeh
No comments:
Post a Comment