4 ms·
The plague is endemic in fleas on rodents and small wild animals in the US Southwest. Most people who contract it are first treated with antibiotics after pres
by dmckeon 7y ago
The plague is endemic in fleas on rodents and small wild animals
in the US Southwest. Most people who contract it are
first treated with antibiotics after presenting with
the typical symptoms, and only a few days later
do the test results confirm the presumed diagnosis.
The riskiest situation is exposure to plague and
then quickly traveling
to some other location where plague is rarely seen,
and doctors at the destination do not know to look
at the symptoms as possibly plague,
and to tentatively treat for plague
before testing confirms the diagnosis. Medical groups
in New Mexico have several time done public awareness
programs using the tag line: “Land of the flea, home of the plague.”
https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/index.html
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago> Land of the flea, home of the plague That sounds like a much catchier slogan for tourism than the current "Here, Every True Adventure Has a Story". https://www.newmexico.org/ https://www.newmexico.org/
- forkexec 7y agoYep. And hantavirus is carried by rodents, rather than fleas, mostly west of the Mississippi in many states. Actually, there are about a half dozen terrible, rodent-borne human-transmissible diseases at this link (except Lassa is in Africa, not the US that I know of): https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html
- peter303 7y agoPrairie dogs in Colorado. A number of pet dogs and a human owner or two get it each year. If recognized early, antibiotics work fine.
- honestoHeminway 7y agoImagine the plague becoming multi-resistent. World Comeback Tour ensues.