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Plague Causes and Risks:
Plague is transmitted among rodents and to humans by flea bite or ingestion of the feces of fleas . It can also be transmitted human to human when a plague victim develops pneumonia and spreads infected droplets by coughing . An epidemic may be started this way. Endemic areas in the U.S. are California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Two types of plague, bubonic and pneumonic, can occur. The incubation period is 2 to 10 days but may be as short as a few hours for pneumonic plague.
Risk factors include a recent flea bite and occupational or environmental exposure to rodents. The incidence of the disease is rare.
Prevention:
Rat control and surveillance of the disease in the wild rodent population are the main measures used to control the risk of epidemics. A vaccination is available for high-risk workers, but its effectiveness is not clearly established.
Symptoms:
BUBONIC PLAGUE PNEUMONIC PLAGUE
Signs and Tests:
These tests may indicate a plague infection.
Treatment:
Immediate treatment with antibiotics such as streptomycin, chloramphenicol, or tetracycline is indicated. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support are additional treatments. Patients with pneumonic plague are strictly isolated from other patients. People who have had contact with anyone infected by pneumonic plague are observed closely and are given antibiotics as a preventive measure.
Note: oral tetracycline is usually not prescribed for children until after all the permanent teeth have erupted; it can permanently discolor teeth that are still forming.
Prognosis:
Half of bubonic plague victims die if not treated, and almost all victims of pneumonic plague die if not treated. Treatment reduces the death rate to 5%.
Complications:
Call Your Healthcare Provider:
Call your health care provider if symptoms develop after exposure to fleas or rodents, especially if you live or have visited in an area where plague occurs frequently ( endemic areas). Endemic areas in the U.S. are California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico.
Different types of fleas prefer specific animals as hosts, but will infest humans if their specific hosts are unavailable. Fleas can carry plague (the Black Death) and murine typhus. They are also thought to be vectors in several other diseases. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Plague is endemic in many areas of the southwestern United States. Wild rodents are frequent carriers. The pocket knife shows the relative size of the squirrel. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Rodents (mice and rats) can be infested with fleas, lice, and mites. They are also capable of carrying a variety of infectious diseases. Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Insects such as lice, mites, and fleas infest rats and carry a number of infectious diseases. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Plague is endemic in the west and southwest portion of the United States. The pocket knife indicates the approximate size. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
These cute animals can be carriers of plague. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) maintain statistics on diseases, including Lyme disease. This graph shows the proportion of lyme disease compared to other diseases that are spread by contact with an animal or insect bite. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Plague was often referred to as the "black death" because of the appearance of the body. Here, gangrene with typical discoloration and tissue death is present. Plague is transmitted to man from wild rodents carrying insects, typically lice.
Fleas are blood-feeding insects. Pain and itching results from an allergic reaction to the materials that the fleas inject into the skin at the time of the bite.
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