Plague Confirmed in Death of Colorado High School Athlete

[c.d.]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/21/colorado-officials-sudden-death-boy-16-caused-by-rare-form-plague/

c.d.

[GUT]

Frightening.

[Pcdunn]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/21...e-form-plague/

c.d.

They say it's septicemic plague, apparently rarer than bubonic, but possibly still carried by fleas. So kids, stay away from dead rodents, please!

[Beowulf]

We have the bacteria for the bubonic plague here in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Thing is, these days we have the antibiotics to cure it.

http://rt.com/usa/247257-arizona-prairie-dogs-fleas-plague/

[Mr Lucky]

The case in the Op was from Colorado so the approach of 'we've got antibiotics in Colorado' is redundant, clearly the issue is a little more complex than that.

Firstly, the problem can be one of diagnosis. The bacteria that causes plague, Yersinia Pestis, can kill extremely quickly but the early symptoms are very mild as the bacteria has an enormous range of mechanisms for suppressing the innate human immune system response, it uses various antigens and effector proteins to inhibit the workings of macrophage and leukocytes – meaning the host notices little wrong, usually mistaking the symptoms for those of a cold, flu or other similar common ailments.

The bacteria multiples uninhibited by any immune responses until the later adaptive immune (B and T-Cells) response starts to kicks in – usually too late to save the individual without prior medical intervention, usually in the form massive dosages of intravenous antibiotics.

Even with the best medical intervention Pestis can still kill up to 5-14%, those who survive may have suffered terrible damage due to necrosis, and may even need to have limbs amputated. Untreated septicaemic and pnuemonic plague outbreaks have sometimes reached 100% mortality.

Additionally, plague is capable of gaining immunity from antibiotics by standard conjugative plasmid transference. This was first observed in the field during the mass outbreak in Madagascar in the 1990's, two sample usually referred to as M16/95 and M17/95 had both gained distinct forms of immunity from antibiotics. M16/95 had streptomycin resistance and M17/95 had the multiple resistance plasmid that originated in E.coli

In 2012 about 400 wild isolates were tested for antibiotic resistance – none of the wild strains had any type of immunity, suggesting that antibiotic immunity conveys no advantage in the wild. However it is likely that other strains with similar/same resistance may develop as one of Pestis's natural habitats – the fleas digestive tract provides the ideal conditions for plasmid transference to occur.

The WHO take plague very seriously, it is the only re-emerging catagory A pandemic disease.

As a side line; There was an outbreak of Plague in Astrakhan in 1888.

[Errata]

It's also carried by armadillos.

[Sam Flynn]

There was an outbreak of Plague in Astrakhan in 1888.

Now we know why Jack disappeared after the Kelly murder

[Sam Flynn]

It's also carried by armadillos.

Armadillos = Mediæval marital aids

Apparently, they helped make you Camelot.

[Beowulf]

Girl Being Treated for Plague after Trip to Yosemite

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/girl-catches-plague-yosemite-n405896