Posted on 04/18/2006 8:54:50 PM PDT by berilhertz
A woman was hospitalized earlier this month with bubonic plague, the first confirmed human case in Los Angeles County in more than two decades, health officials said Tuesday.
The woman, who was not identified, was admitted April 13 with a fever, swollen lymph nodes and other symptoms. A blood test confirmed she had contracted the bacterial disease. The woman was placed on antibiotics and is in stable condition, officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Illegal aliens do the diseases that Americans refuse to do.
While that's a possibilty, you have to understand that bubonic plague is endemic in parts of the rodent population of the western US. Earlier in the 20th century, bubonic plague did spread into the US. While it didn't create a massive pandemic among humans, it did manage to get a foothold among the rodents. Just as there's a endemic foothold for the disease in Mongolia (the source of previous great plagues such as the Black Death), there's been one in the US for decades. Of course, living conditions in the US are light years from medieval Europe and Asia in the 1300's, so the disease doesn't turn into an epidemic.
That caught my eye, too! I hope this is not the start of an attack.
What link?
Also it's "Bubonic", not "boobonic";))
Griffith Park, home of the Los Angeles Zoo, has had many plague alerts and verified cases of bubonic plague found in ground squirrels and chipmunks for at least the past two decades.
Facts about Pneumonic Plague
Plague
Plague is an infectious disease that affects animals and humans. It is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
This bacterium is found in rodents and their fleas and occurs in many areas of the world, including the United States. Y. pestis is easily destroyed by sunlight and drying. Even so, when released into air, the bacterium will survive for up to one hour, although this could vary depending on conditions.
Pneumonic plague is one of several forms of plague.
Depending on circumstances, these forms may occur separately or in combination:
- Pneumonic plague occurs when Y. pestis infects the lungs. This type of plague can spread from person to person through the air.
Transmission can take place if someone breathes in aerosolized bacteria, which could happen in a bioterrorist attack. Pneumonic plague is also spread by breathing in Y. pestis suspended in respiratory droplets from a person (or animal) with pneumonic plague.
Becoming infected in this way usually requires direct and close contact with the ill person or animal. Pneumonic plague may also occur if a person with bubonic or septicemic plague is untreated and the bacteria spread to the lungs.
- Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague. This occurs when an infected flea bites a person or when materials contaminated with Y. pestis enter through a break in a person's skin. Patients develop swollen, tender lymph glands (called buboes) and fever, headache, chills, and weakness.
Bubonic plague does not spread from person to person.
- Septicemic plague occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood. It can be a complication of pneumonic or bubonic plague or it can occur by itself. When it occurs alone, it is caused in the same ways as bubonic plague; however, buboes do not develop.
Patients have fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into skin and other organs. Septicemic plague does not spread from person to person.
Symptoms and Treatment
With pneumonic plague, the first signs of illness are fever, headache, weakness, and rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery sputum.
The pneumonia progresses for 2 to 4 days and may cause respiratory failure and shock. Without early treatment, patients may die. Early treatment of pneumonic plague is essential. To reduce the chance of death, antibiotics must be given within 24 hours of first symptoms.
Streptomycin, gentamicin, the tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol are all effective against pneumonic plague. Antibiotic treatment for 7 days will protect people who have had direct, close contact with infected patients.
Wearing a close-fitting surgical mask also protects against infection. A plague vaccine is not currently available for use in the United States.
L.A. Public Health: About Plague
PLAGUE IN L.A. COUNTY --- 204 kb Updated: 1/16/2003 10:20:28 PM
Search plague in Los Angeles County Department of Health
ROTFLMAO!
Yeah, it takes a whole new disease to define Mad Max.
There's actually a non-kook community of scientists who do not believe Bubonic Plague was the cause of the Black Death.
COEXERJ145 wrote: "I'm sure you're aware that this disease is naturally occurring in the Southwest part of the United States."
Thank you. More: The plague in Los Angeles.
Yeah, I don't live in LA anymore, but you never forget Maxine!
There are many more if you look for them.
Dang it. What are the odds I'd read your post before the end of House? LOL!
There is also a very large rat population this year...because of the rains.
BOOBonic plague is rampant in Calfornia. haven't you looked at the women there? They all have 44 DDD's.
just an fyi ping.
Nathan Zachary wrote: "Salmonella can be deadly. It's actually quite common. Most people get a little sick and shake it off in a day or so. They don't even realize they've had it..."
The fatality rate for most forms of salmonellosis is 1%.
"S. typhi and S. paratyphi A, B, and C produce typhoid and typhoid-like fever in humans. Various organs may be infected, leading to lesions. The fatality rate of typhoid fever is 10% compared to less than 1% for most forms of salmonellosis.
S. dublin has a 15% mortality rate when septicemic in the elderly, and S. enteritidis is demonstrating approximately a 3.6% mortality rate in hospital/nursing home outbreaks, with the elderly being particularly affected."
USDA Food Safety: Salmonella spp
Nathan Zachary wrote: "...There were some studies done a while back. Not suprizing, it was found to be worst in California, in Mexican fast food joints..."
The study you cited found unwashed tomatoes and lettuce to be the source of salmonella.
Here's more from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
"It is estimated that from 2 to 4 million cases of salmonellosis occur in the U.S. annually.
The incidence of salmonellosis appears to be rising both in the U.S. and in other industrialized nations.
S. enteritidis isolations from humans have shown a dramatic rise in the past decade, particularly in the northeast United States (6-fold or more), and the increase in human infections is spreading south and west, with sporadic outbreaks in other regions."
USDA Food Safety: Salmonella spp
Bump.
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