It sounds like a medieval horror scenario, but there are signs of a plague outbreak. In the United States, a ten-year-old girl died of the disease. Health authorities also found multiple infestations in fleas and rodents.
–
–
Door Redactie Online
–
Be careful, say the US health authorities. Because if there’s one thing we can’t add at the moment, it’s still a ‘scary’ disease. Traces of the plague were discovered in six American municipalities. In the state of Colorado, a girl has even died from the disease. It is not known how she got the disease.
You may have thought that the plague is an age-old disease that has since become extinct, but that is not the case. “Although the disease is rare, it still occurs. It is important that people seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms,” Public Health Specialist Jennifer House said in a statement.
Watch out for rodents
Colorado health authorities recommend treating pets with flea pesticides. They also emphasize that it is best for people to avoid rodents and also to be on the lookout for prairie dogs. Fleas easily jump from animal to animal.
The plague, also known as the Black Death, made huge numbers of victims in the Middle Ages. In Europe, a third of the population is said to have died from the epidemic. The source of this disease is the Yersinia Pestis bacteria. Fleas and rodents carry this bacterium and spread it further. The plague is highly contagious and can also be transmitted to humans.
Europe is pest free
A reassuring thought is that there have been no signs of the plague in Europe since 1929. But there are countries where the plague still occurs. In southern Africa and Central Asia, the disease sometimes appears in humans. This is still happening in some parts of America. Prairie dogs, squirrels and rats spread the disease. In Colorado, 22 people were infected with the plague between 2015 and 2020. The last person died of the disease in 2015, writes
The Denver Post . Today, the disease can be treated with antibiotics.
