Rare Case Of Bubonic Plague Shows Up In Lake County

OPB ^ | Tuesday, October 5, 2010 | David Nogueras

[nickcarraway]

State health officials say a woman in Lake County has been diagnosed with bubonic plague.

It’s the first diagnosis in Oregon in 15 years. The disease terrorized Europe’s population more than 600 years ago, but the plague is treatable when caught early.

The plague is extremely rare these days. It’s a bacterial infection carried by rodents, and is transmitted to humans though fleas.

Dr. Emilio DeBess is the public health veterinarian and an epidemiologist with Oregon Department of Human Services.

He says the disease, once known as the Black Death got somewhat of a bad rap after killing off a third of Europe’s population in the 1300s.

But he says thanks to scientific advances, it’s no longer a death sentence.

Emilio DeBess: “It’s a very treatable condition with antibiotics and so that’s usually not a concern, back then they didn’t have antibiotics. We do have very good antibiotics that treat the infection.”

Health officials have not released the name of the Lake County woman who fell ill at the end of August.

DeBess says authorities are now trying to determine the source of the infection.

[Islander2]

“Another case of DDT being needed...”

You are so right. In the mid 70’s in Plumas County, CA this plague was found at Lake Davis in a campground there. People from the state connected with disease control came to our area and stayed at our motel. We of course talked to them about the problem, as for one thing the bad publicity about the plague was hurting our business and others in the business community. To a person they said they could eliminate the problem in one week’s time by using DDT which was already on the restricted list. Higher ups denied this request which was asked for each and every week. The powers to be thought they knew better, and suggested a remedy each week and every one turned out to be a failure. Finally after screwing around trying to use alternatives to what finally cured the problem, they consented to the use of DDT.
Some DDT dust around the ground squirrels’ burrows ended the problem as it killed the fleas that were carrying the plague.

[srmorton]

Bubonic plague is actually not the form of the disease that is the most contagious because it is usually confined to the lymph nodes which swell up and are called “bubos”(hence the name). It can be spread only by direct contact. If the organism gets into the lungs, the condition known as “pneumonic plague” develops. This form can be spread through the air very quickly and, prior to the availability of antibiotics, was so rapidly fatal that death could occur within 24 hours of the onset of this form. As mentioned previously, plague is now very easily treated with antibiotics.

[wendy1946]

see post 41

[Taffini]

essential oils bump