Man left riddled with ulcer-like boils 24 hours after catching bubonic plague from pet cat
The 73-year-old from
Advertisement
5
A pensioner is believed to have caught the plague from his pet cat
Credit: Getty
5
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
Most read in Health
Exclusive
Exclusive
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
5
London was ridden with plague in the 1300s
Credit: Getty - Contributor
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
It infects the lungs and can spread rapidly between humans through airborne droplets.
Symptoms include fever,
Last week, health officials in Arizona announced that
5
Bubonic plague can cause the skin and tissue to turn black and die
Credit: Wikipedia
Advertisement
5
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
Advertisement
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
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
4 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Horrifying ancient meal loved by Neanderthals is a dieter's dream – but would YOU eat sickening dish?
NEANDERTHALS may have feasted on maggot-infested meat as a core part of their diet, according to a new study. But the pungent delicacy was more than simply "starvation rations", said Melanie Beasley, assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University, Indiana. Advertisement 2 Research from Beasley and her team suggests that Neanderthals had a hidden delicacy: maggots Credit: Getty A number of Indigenous communities have viewed putrefied - or fermented - meat as highly desirable. It is easier to digest, meaning the body can better and more quickly absorb nutrients without cooking. Experts have long known that Neanderthals - our extinct human ancestor - were omnivores, eating meat and vegetables like most modern people. But chemical signatures found in Neanderthal remains suggest they ate as much meat as lions. Advertisement READ MORE ON NEANDERTHALS Analysis of their bones found too much nitrogen than what a classic omnivore would have. But hominins simply cannot tolerate eating the high levels of protein that large predators can. When humans eat as much protein as Earth's apex predators – or hypercarnivores – over long periods of time, without consuming enough other nutrients they can develop protein poisoning. Also known as "rabbit starvation", protein poisoning can lead to malnutrition and death. Advertisement Most read in Tech Research from Beasley and her team suggests that Neanderthals had a hidden delicacy: maggots. Similar to the historical diets of some indigenous communities, Neanderthals too may have dined on decaying meat. Stunningly lifelike face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman in her 40s recreated after 'best-preserved' skull found It is this that would have boosted their internal nitrogen levels to hypercarnivore-levels, according to the study. Maggots, which are fly larvae, can be a fat-rich source of food. They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. Melanie Beasley, assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University, Indiana " We suspected that maggots could have been a different potential source of enriched nitrogen-15 in the Neanderthal diet ," Beasley explained in a recent article published in Advertisement " Maggots, which are fly larvae , can be a fat-rich source of food. " They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. " Beasley and her colleagues used data from a forensic anthropology project focused on how nitrogen might help estimate time since death to investigate the possibility. " I had originally collected modern muscle tissue samples and associated maggots at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to understand how nitrogen values change during decomposition after death ," she said. Advertisement "While the data can assist modern forensic death investigations, in our current study we repurposed it to test a very different hypothesis. "We found that stable nitrogen isotope values increase modestly as muscle tissue decomposes, ranging from -0.6 permil to 7.7 permil." The researchers found that maggots found in dried, frozen or cached animal foods would have inflated the nitrogen levels in ancient humans during the Late Pleistocene era. Research shows that [nitrogen-15] values are higher for cooked foods, putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species, and, with our study, for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. " Neanderthals' cultural practices, similar to those of Indigenous peoples, might be the answer to the mystery of their high [nitrogen-15] values. Advertisement " Ancient hominins were butchering, storing, preserving, cooking and cultivating a variety of items. " All these practices enriched their paleo menu with foods in forms that nonhominin carnivores do not consume. " Research shows that [nitrogen-15] values are higher for cooked foods , putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species , and, with our study , for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. " Although maggots may not solely explain the lion-like nitrogen levels in Neanderthals, according to the researchers. Advertisement It is still unclear how many maggots an ancient human would need to eat to account for so much nitrogen. More research is needed on changes in nitrogen-15 values of foods processed, stored and cooked following Indigenous traditional practices to "help us better understand the dietary practices of our ancient relatives," said Beasley. 2 An illustration of Neanderthals feasting on their kill during prehistoric times from 1870 Credit: Getty
The Irish Sun
22 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Intense grief after the loss of a loved one doubles the risk of dying within 10 years, warn experts
PEOPLE intensely grieving a loved one are nearly twice as likely to die within a decade of their loss, say scientists. While grief for the loss of a relative is a natural response, in a minority of the bereaved, grief is so overwhelming it can lead to physical and mental illness - even if it doesn't qualify for a diagnosis. Advertisement 1 Bereaved people with persistent high levels of intense grief showed to use more healthcare services in the study Credit: Getty Previous studies have shown people who recently lost a loved one use healthcare services more often and have an increased mortality rate, over the short term. But now, researchers in Study corresponding author Dr Mette Kjærgaard Nielsen, a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Unit for General Practice in Aarhus, said: "This is the first study to investigate the long-term use of healthcare and patterns of mortality over a decade after bereavement in a large-scale cohort." Starting in 2012, Dr Nielsen and her colleagues followed a group of 1,735 bereaved women and men living in Denmark with an average age of 62 on enrolment. Advertisement Read more on mental health Of the participants, 66 per cent had recently lost their partner, 27 per cent a parent, and 7 per cent another kind of loved relation. Through the national register of drug prescriptions, the researchers knew which patients had recently been prescribed treatment for a terminal condition. They were able to contact those dying patients to invite them and their loved ones to participate in the study. Previously, Dr Nielsen and her colleagues. had identified five common "trajectories" among the group, based on changes in the intensity of grief symptoms over the first three years after losing a loved one. Advertisement Most read in Health Those on the "low" trajectory (38 per cent) displayed persistently low levels of grief symptoms, while 6 per cent followed a "high" trajectory with persistently elevated levels. Three other categories lay between those extremes: 18 per cent and 29 percent followed a "high but decreasing" and a "moderate but decreasing" trajectory, respectively, with 9 per cent on a "late onset" trajectory with a peak of symptoms around six month after bereavement. There are many treatments available on the NHS to help with low mood and depression The research team extended their follow-up of the participants for a total of 10 years until 2022, except for those who died or emigrated earlier. They used data from the Danish National Health Service Register to assess how often each participant received " Advertisement The results revealed for participants on the "high" trajectory, the hazard rate of dying within 10 years was 88 per cent higher than for participants on a "low" trajectory. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health , also showed participants on the "high" trajectory were most likely to receive additional health care services beyond three years after bereavement. For example, they had 186 per cent higher odds of receiving talk therapy or other mental health services, 463 per cent higher odds of being prescribed antidepressants, and 160 per cent higher odds of being prescribed sedatives or Differences in the frequency of use of healthcare services between the five trajectories were no longer significant after the first eight years, but the excess mortality of participants on the "high" trajectory remained pronounced over the full 10 years of follow-up. Advertisement Dr Nielsen said: "We have previously found a connection between high grief symptom levels and higher rates of cardiovascular disease, mental health problems, and even suicide. "But the association with mortality should be further investigated." She says people at risk for a "high" grief trajectory may be recognisable for intervention early, since the data showed that those patients were prescribed psychotropic medication more often even before their loss. Dr Nielsen added: "The 'high grief' group had lower education on average, and their more frequent use of medication before bereavement suggested that they had signs of mental vulnerability, which may cause greater distress on bereavement. Advertisement "A GP could look for previous signs of depression and other severe mental health conditions. "They can then offer these patients tailored follow-up in general practice, or refer them to a private-practice psychologist or secondary care. "The GP may also suggest a bereavement follow-up appointment focusing on mental health." Where to seek grief support Need professional help with grief? Child Bereavement UK Cruse Bereavement Relate The Good Grief Trust You can also always speak to your GP if you're struggling. You're Not Alone Check out these books, podcasts and apps that all expertly navigate grief… Griefcast: Cariad Lloyd interviews comedians on this award-winning podcast. The Madness Of Grief by Rev Richard Coles (£9.99, W&N): The Strictly fave writes movingly on losing his husband David to alcoholism. Terrible, Thanks For Asking: Podcast host Nora McInerny encourages non-celebs to share how they're really feeling. Good Mourning by Sally Douglas and Imogen Carn (£14.99, Murdoch Books): A guide for people who've suffered sudden loss, like the authors who both lost their mums. Grief Works: Download this for daily meditations and expert tips. How To Grieve Like A Champ by Lianna Champ (£3.99, Red Door Press): A book for improving your relationship with death.
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
What is listeriosis? – 8 symptoms of deadly infection as salads & spinach recalled amid outbreak probe after person dies
OVER 200 ready-made meals and multiple spinach and mixed leaves products have been recalled from Irish shops due to the possible presence of listeria monocytogenes. The potentially fatal bacterium can cause , and may result in mild flue-like symptoms or no symptoms at all in the affected person. Advertisement 3 The condition can affect some people more than others Credit: Getty 3 Here are 8 Listeria symptoms to watch out for Credit: Getty Listeriosis is an infection in the body caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogene and usually comes from eating While all food types can be affected, the bacteria is most commonly found in chilled and ready to eat foods. Last week, nine people fell ill with the infection and one person passed away as health bosses probed an "extensive outbreak" . A full list of over 200 recalled ready-made meals and side dishes that were pulled from the shelves last week . Advertisement READ MORE IN HEALTH And all of the information surrounding the spinach and mixed salad leaves recall for the same reason can To kill listeria, food must be Although its rare, some people may catch Listeriosis from someone else who has it. For example, if they haven't washed their hands and then cook food that you consume. Advertisement MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN Live Blog And close contact with What is Listeria and why is it dangerous? For some, Listeriosis has few or no symptoms, or mild problems that only last a few days. The infection is most commonly flu-like, with symptoms including a runny nose, a high temperature, aches, pains, or chills. In some cases, it can create gastronomical issues including nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea. Advertisement For SYMPTOMS OF LISTERIA INFECTION SYMPTOMS of a listeria infection partly depend on where in the body that the infection happens. If it affects the gut, you might have: Diarrhea Upset stomach Vomiting These symptoms often start within a day of eating tainted food and they tend to go away within a few days. The germs that cause a listeria infection also can spread through the blood and into the brain and spinal cord. If this happens, you might have: Fever and chills Flu-like symptoms Diarrhea or an upset stomach Headache Stiff neck Confusion or changes in alertness Loss of balance Seizures And The good news is that Listeriosis is not serious for most people. But the people who have a higher risk of serious Advertisement newborn babies pregnant women people with a condition which weakens their immune system (cancer, diabetes, liver disease or kidney disease) people receiving treatment that could weaken their immune system (chemotherapy or steroid tablets) Risk also increases with age, meaning older people are more at risk of health complications from the infection. HOW TO TREAT Listeriosis usually goes away by itself within a few days. Those infected are advised to stay home if possible and drink a lot of liquid. Those who are at a higher risk of serious illness might need to take antibiotic medication. Advertisement But health bosses have shared some tips on how to avoid the infection. The first is to keep chilled, ready to eat foods cold in a working fridge. And those foods should be eaten within 24 hours of being taken out of the fridge. Food should also be eaten, cooked, or frozen before it's best before date. Advertisement And raw food should be kept separate from ready to eat food. WHAT IF I ATE THE FOOD? If you have eaten any recalled foods and are feeling well, you do not need to do anything. However, the FSA advise that you should seek medical advice if you become unwell within 70 days from the day of eating them. If you have eaten any recalled foods and you feel unwell, seek medical advice. Advertisement 3 The infection is caused by Listeria monocytogenes, often found in food Credit: Getty
