Plague (disease) - Other Contemporary Cases

Other Contemporary Cases

• On August 31, 1984, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a case of pneumonic plague in Claremont, California. The CDC believes that the patient, a veterinarian, contracted plague from a stray cat. As the cat wasn't available for necropsy, this could not be ultimately confirmed.
• From 1995 to 1998, annual outbreaks of plague were witnessed in Mahajanga, Madagascar.
• In the U.S., about half of all fatal cases of plague since 1970 have occurred in New Mexico. There were 2 plague deaths in the state in 2006, the first fatalities in 12 years.
• In February 2002, a small outbreak of pneumonic plague took place in the Shimla District of Himachal Pradesh state in northern India.
• In the fall of 2002, a New Mexico couple contracted the disease, just prior to a visit to New York City. They both were treated by antibiotics, but the male required amputation of both feet to fully recover, due to the lack of blood flow to his feet, cut off by the bacteria.
• On April 19, 2006, CNN News and others reported a case of plague in Los Angeles, California, lab technician Nirvana Kowlessar, the first reported case in that city since 1984.
• In May 2006, KSL Newsradio reported a case of plague found in dead field mice and chipmunks at Natural Bridges National Monument about 40 miles (64 km) west of Blanding in San Juan County, Utah.
• In May 2006, Arizona media reported a case of plague found in a cat.
• One hundred deaths resulting from pneumonic plague were reported in Ituri district of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in June 2006. Control of the plague was proving difficult due to the ongoing conflict.
• It was reported in September 2006 that three mice infected with Yersinia pestis apparently disappeared from a laboratory belonging to the Public Health Research Institute, located on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which conducts anti-bioterrorism research for the United States government.
• On May 16, 2007, an 8-year-old hooded capuchin monkey in the Denver Zoo died of the bubonic plague. Five squirrels and a rabbit were also found dead on zoo grounds and tested positive for the disease.
• On June 5, 2007 in Torrance County, New Mexico a 58-year-old woman developed bubonic plague, which progressed to pneumonic plague.
• On November 2, 2007, Eric York, a 37 year old wildlife biologist for the National Park Service's Mountain Lion Conservation program PDF (144 KB) and The Felidae Conservation Fund, was found dead in his home at Grand Canyon National Park. On October 27, York performed a necropsy on a mountain lion that had likely perished from the disease and three days afterward York complained of flu-like symptoms and called in sick from work. He was treated at a local clinic but was not diagnosed with any serious ailment. The discovery of his death sparked a minor health scare, with officials stating he likely died of either plague or hantavirus, and 49 people who had come in to contact with York were given aggressive antibiotic treatments. None of them fell ill. Autopsy results released on November 9, confirmed the presence of Y. pestis in his body, confirming plague as a likely cause of death.
• In January 2008, at least 18 people died of bubonic plague in Madagascar.
• On June 16, 2009, Libyan authorities reported an outbreak of bubonic plague in Tobruk, Libya. 16-18 cases were reported, including one death.
• On August 2, 2009, Chinese authorities quarantined the town of Ziketan, Xinghai County in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province (Northwestern China) after an outbreak of pneumonic plague. As of this writing, three have died and ten more are ill, being treated in hospital.
• On September 13, 2009, Dr. Malcolm Casadaban died following an accidental laboratory exposure to an attenuated strain of the plague bacterium. This has happened due to his undiagnosed hereditary hemochromatosis (iron overload). He was an Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and of Microbiology at the University of Chicago.
• On 1 July 2010, eight cases of Bubonic plague were reported in humans in the District of Chicama, Peru. One 32 year old man was affected, as well as three boys and four girls ranging in age from 8 to 14 years old. 425 houses were fumigated and 1210 guinea pigs, 232 dogs, 128 cats and 73 rabbits were given anti flea treatment in an effort to stop the epidemic.
• On May 3, 2012, a ground squirrel trapped during routine testing at a popular campground on Palomar Mountain in San Diego County, California, tested positive for the plague bacteria.
• On June 2, 2012, a man and a woman in Crook County, Oregon, attempting to rescue a cat choking on a mouse, were bitten and became infected with septicemic plague.