Posted on 05/01/2015 6:29:34 AM PDT by null and void
A plague-infected dog spread the dangerous disease to four Colorado residents, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials told ABC News that this the first report of a dog infecting a human with the plague in the U.S.
The dog, a 2-year-old American pit bull terrier, became sick last summer with a fever and jaw rigidity, among other symptoms. The dog's health declined so quickly that it was euthanized the following day at a local vet's office, health officials said.
Four days later, the dog's owner entered the hospital with a fever and a bloody cough that became worse over the next few hours, but an initial blood culture was misidentified, according to the CDC report.
As the patient's symptoms grew worse, the test was redone and he was found to have been infected with pnumonic plague, according to the CDC report. The remains of the dog were also tested and were found to be positive for the plague bacteria.
"For pneumonic plague a more likely scenario would be you have a cat [play] with prairie dogs and infected fleas get on the cat," Runfola said. "The cat gets sick and sneezes and coughs on its owner."
The plague is known to be endemic to prairie dogs in the American Southwest, which can then lead to isolated outbreaks of the disease in domestic animals or humans.
"Pneumonic plague is the worst form," said Douglas. "It’s the one that you least want to get. You get sick fast and the chances of getting a rocky or even fatal course" are increased.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
PROCON’s just funnin’ with us. Nothing like good dry humor in the morning.
Also, bubonic plague and pneumonic plague come from the same bacteria source. Just how they infect/affect us is different.
Plague ping...
True enough. What makes this instance interesting is the vector (dog to human).
That is unusual.
Aren't fleas the carriers of plague?
Dogs get fleas.
In this case, though, we are dealing with pneumonic plague, not the garden variety flea bite.
The dog contracted the disease and passed it to the owner.
We are so screwed.
Thanks for the ping!
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
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