Plague of the Middle Ages again claimed fatalities

16-year-old boy died of plague in the US
In the Middle Ages, the plague claimed millions of lives, but today the infectious disease is widely considered eradicated. A misbelief, as the current death of a 16-year-old in the US shows. Although the plague has become rare, in 2013, 783 infections, including 126 deaths, were still registered with the World Health Organization (WHO). Even in modern industrial nations like the US, the disease can still occur today.

The current plague death of the boy from Denver (US state of Colorado) is said to have occurred on 8 June, according to US media reports. But initially it was unclear what the 16-year-old had died. Only in the course of further investigations could the bacterium Yersinia pestis be identified as the cause. Last year, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had already reported the plague infection of a man in Colorado who had apparently been infected by his dog. In his environment were then detected in three other people infection, the CDC. Although all four patients survived the infection, the illnesses made it clear that continued attention should be paid to the supposedly extinct pathogens.

The PEst is triggered by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. (Image: decade3d / fotolia.com)

Watch for signs of pestilence
The recent case of 16-year-old Taylor Gaes of Denver has given health officials reasons to take comprehensive precautionary measures to prevent further spread. All friends and acquaintances are called to contact the authorities if they have had contact with the boy or his family in recent weeks, reports the US news channel "CBS". In addition, the health authority of Larimer County called on the people of the region to pay more attention to possible symptoms of plague and to seek medical treatment if necessary. As a possible complaint the WHO mentions flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, body aches, general weakness, nausea and vomiting, which occur after an incubation period of three to seven days.

Annually seven pest infections in the US
The last death from a pest infection occurred in the US in New Mexico in 2013, according to "CBS". The last plague death in Colorado occurred in 2004. At the national level, the CDC is reporting an average of seven pest infections per year, with eleven percent of infected people not surviving the disease. Three main types of plague are distinguished: bubonic plague, pulmonary plague and plague septicemia, all of which are caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Mostly, transmission is by fleas that jump from infected rodents to humans. To date, the most common form of the plague is the bubonic plague, which leads to painful lymphadenopathy, which are also visible externally. According to the WHO, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Peru were the areas most affected by outbreaks in recent years. (Fp)