{"id":31662,"date":"2025-07-12T17:48:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T17:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=31662"},"modified":"2025-07-12T18:28:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T18:28:04","slug":"arizona-resident-dies-from-plague-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=31662","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Resident Dies From Plague, Officials Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">The resident died from pneumonic plague, the first such death in Coconino County, Ariz., since 2007, the county said.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A resident of Coconino County, Ariz., died from pneumonic plague, the first such death in the county in almost two decades, officials announced on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The resident went to Flagstaff Medical Center recently and died the same day despite attempts to provide \u201clifesaving resuscitation,\u201d according to a statement on Friday from Northern Arizona Healthcare, which runs the hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rapid diagnostic testing confirmed that the patient was infected with Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes the pneumonic plague, which appears as a severe lung infection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was the first recorded death from the pneumonic plague in Coconino County, which is north of Phoenix, since 2007, county officials <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coconino.az.gov\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3242&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawLfXHRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFCd3hlUjY2M1ZGNURMRFdFAR5cdhAbD4Nab71-FQNNDDI_CXVgccQw2SMLR5OknCEoxkTUi1wDajEe0TzLvQ_aem_WYG09QZujnbgF13qssTFqQ\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Additional details about the case, including when the patient died, were not released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The risk of exposure to the plague remains low, officials said. It\u2019s rare for cases of the disease to appear in humans, according to the federal <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/plague\/about\/index.html\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Plague occurs naturally in the western United States and circulates among the rodent populations there, the agency said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The plague infamously struck Europe in the 1340s, killing large parts of the continent\u2019s population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The outbreak began in a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/15\/health\/black-death-plague.html\" title>trader settlement in what is now Kyrgyzstan<\/a> before spreading across Eurasia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The outbreak was known as the Black Death, for the black spots that appeared on the bodies of the sick, who were infected with Yersinia pestis after being bitten by fleas that lived on rodents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">According to Arizona officials, the 2007 death happened after the person came into contact with a dead animal infected with plague. Humans are usually infected through the bite of an infected rodent flea or by handling an infected animal, the C.D.C. said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">An average of seven human plague cases are reported each year in the United States, according to the agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Pneumonic plague symptoms include fever, headache and rapidly developing pneumonia, with shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing. Symptoms develop within one to eight days of exposure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Plague can be cured through antibiotics, but the treatment must be given quickly, according to the C.D.C.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The risk of human-to-human transmission of the plague is low and the last known case happened in 1924 in Los Angeles, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC4285253\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to the National Institutes of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Plague is one of many diseases endemic to the southwestern United States, including West Nile virus, hantavirus and rabies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-5\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In New Mexico, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/07\/health\/what-is-hantavirus-gene-hackman-wife.html\" title>Betsy Arakawa, the wife of the actor Gene Hackman<\/a>, died from hantavirus this year, most likely after coming into contact with infected rodents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"RelatedLinksBlock-7\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazy-loader\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The resident died from pneumonic plague, the first such death in Coconino County, Ariz., since 2007, the county said.A resident of Coconino County, Ariz., died from pneumonic plague, the first such death in the county in almost two decades, officials announced on Friday.The resident went to Flagstaff Medical Center recently and died the same day despite attempts to provide \u201clifesaving resuscitation,\u201d according to a statement on Friday from Northern Arizona Healthcare, which runs the hospital.Rapid diagnostic testing confirmed that the patient was infected with Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes the pneumonic plague, which appears as a severe lung infection.It was the first recorded death from the pneumonic plague in Coconino County, which is north of Phoenix, since 2007, county officials said in a statement.Additional details about the case, including when the patient died, were not released.The risk of exposure to the plague remains low, officials said. It\u2019s rare for cases of the disease to appear in humans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Plague occurs naturally in the western United States and circulates among the rodent populations there, the agency said.The plague infamously struck Europe in the 1340s, killing large parts of the continent\u2019s population.The outbreak began in a trader settlement in what is now Kyrgyzstan before spreading across Eurasia.The outbreak was known as the Black Death, for the black spots that appeared on the bodies of the sick, who were infected with Yersinia pestis after being bitten by fleas that lived on rodents.According to Arizona officials, the 2007 death happened after the person came into contact with a dead animal infected with plague. Humans are usually infected through the bite of an infected rodent flea or by handling an infected animal, the C.D.C. said.An average of seven human plague cases are reported each year in the United States, according to the agency.Pneumonic plague symptoms include fever, headache and rapidly developing pneumonia, with shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing. Symptoms develop within one to eight days of exposure.Plague can be cured through antibiotics, but the treatment must be given quickly, according to the C.D.C.The risk of human-to-human transmission of the plague is low and the last known case happened in 1924 in Los Angeles, according to the National Institutes of Health.Plague is one of many diseases endemic to the southwestern United States, including West Nile virus, hantavirus and rabies.In New Mexico, Betsy Arakawa, the wife of the actor Gene Hackman, died from hantavirus this year, most likely after coming into contact with infected rodents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31664,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31665,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31662\/revisions\/31665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}