Man left riddled with ulcer-like boils 24 hours after catching bubonic plague from pet cat
The 73-year-old from
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A pensioner is believed to have caught the plague from his pet cat
Credit: Getty
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The case marked the earliest the bubonic plague has struck in Oregon
The cat was already on antibiotics for an infection, thought to be a neck abscess, at the time.
Within a day, a "tender" ulcer appeared on his wrist, according to a paper in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Over the next several hours, the infection spread, c
Buboes are swollen lymph nodes that enlarge and become tender due to the infection.
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Read more on plague
If left untreated, the infection can cause the skin over the buboes to turn black and die, which is where the plague gets its name, the '
Four days later, the pensioner went to hospital, where doctors put him on antibiotics.
Tests later confirmed he was infected with Yersinia pestis,
the bacteria that causes
plague, according to US Centre for Disease Controls
Medics then switched him onto stronger plague-fighting drugs, including gentamicin and levofloxacin, and he began to improve.
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He was kept in hospital for over a week and sent home with more
At a check-up days later, he was back on his feet, although still feeling wiped out.
Arizona Reports Fatal Black Death Case: Plague Claims Life in 24 Hours
Though many believe the medieval disease is long gone, some countries still suffer deadly outbreaks of plague due to animals carrying the bacteria.
In recent years, it has
been reported in the US, Peru, China, Bolivia, Uganda, Tanzania and Russia.
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Experts writing the report, published last week, said the case marked the earliest the
They believe rising winter temperatures could be helping plague-carrying fleas stay active for longer, increasing the risk of off-season outbreaks.
The man's cat later died because the owner was unable to give it antibiotics while in hospital.
Tests later confirmed the cat was positive for the same deadly plague bacteria that infected the man.
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The infectious bacterial disease is carried by wild rodents and their fleas.
Officials haven't confirmed exactly how the infection passed from the cat to its owner, but if the cat was bitten by infected fleas, it could have brought the bacteria or fleas into the home, exposing the man.
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London was ridden with plague in the 1300s
Credit: Getty - Contributor
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Plus, they're more likely than many other pets to hunt and catch rodents carrying infected fleas, increasing their risk of contracting, and spreading, the disease.
Plague remains on both the WHO and UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) priority pathogen lists due to its potential to cause a pandemic.
The WHO estimates
Though now rare and treatable with antibiotics, plague can still be deadly.
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The three types of plague
Plague takes a few forms, with bubonic plague, the most common.
The main symptoms include buboes, usually in the neck, groin, thighs, or armpits.
They may also burst open, releasing the pus inside.
Septicemic plague occurs when the infection spreads to the bloodstream.
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It can develop on its own or as a complication of bubonic plague, causing symptoms like fever, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into the skin and organs.
Pneumonic plague, the deadliest form, is fatal in up to 90 per cent of patients if left untreated.
It often develops when untreated bubonic or septicemic plague spreads to the lungs.
But it can also be caught from inhaling the respiratory droplets (e.g. via coughing or sneezing) from an infected person.
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It infects the lungs and can spread rapidly between humans through airborne droplets.
Symptoms include fever,
Last week, health officials in Arizona announced that
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Bubonic plague can cause the skin and tissue to turn black and die
Credit: Wikipedia
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The blackened hand of a man recovering from a rare case of The Plague in the US
Risk to Brits is 'very low'
On average, seven human plague cases are reported in the US each year, according to the CDC.
Meanwhile, plague is no longer found in the UK, and the risk of imported cases is considered 'very low,' according to government guidance.
However, Covid jab scientists are developing a
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The team behind the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine said they had made progress on an injection that could prevent bubonic plague from developing.
The last significant British outbreak occurred in Suffolk in 1918, though a few isolated cases have been suspected since.
History of the Black Death
THE Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague which struck Europe and Asia in the 1300s.
It killed more than 20 million people in Europe and about 25 million more across Asia and North Africa, totaling roughly 45 million deaths worldwide.
Scientists now know the plague was spread by a bacillus known as
.
Bubonic plague can cause swelling of the lymph nodes. If untreated, it could spread to the blood and lungs.
Other symptoms included fever, vomiting and chills.
Physicians relied on treatments such as boil-lancing to bathing in vinegar as they tried to treat people with the plague.
Some believed that the Black Death was a "divine punishment" - a form of retribution for sins against God
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