Posted on 04/18/2006 4:34:55 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
A CASE of bubonic plague has been reported in the second largest US city, Los Angeles, for the first time in 22 years, health officials said today.
An unidentified woman came down last week with symptoms of the disease, known as the Black Death, when it devastatingly swept across Europe in the 14th century. Health officials said they believed the infected woman, who remains in hospital, was exposed to fleas in the area around her house and stressed it was unlikely the rare disease would spread.
"Bubonic plague is not usually transmissible from person to person," Jonathan Fielding, head of Los Angeles County public health, said.
Mr Fielding explained the disease is not uncommon among animals such as squirrels but seldom spreads to humans.
"Fortunately, human plague infection is rare in urban environments, and this single case should not be a cause for alarm in the area where this occurred," he said.
Health officials investigating the source of the disease set traps to catch squirrels and other wild animals in the area near where the woman lives.
Blood tests will be performed on any animals caught to determine if they were exposed to the plague bacteria.
Plague symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea, headache, sore throat, fatigue and swollen, tender lymph nodes associated with the arm or leg that has flea bites.
The disease is treatable with antibiotics, medical experts said.
Yet another way America is celebrating diversity.
We need more guest workers.
I heard refusing to use paragraphs is one of the first symptoms..
No, that's 'Bluebonic plague.' (Blue states).
LOL! It probably is!
The Orange County referenced in your link is in Florida, not the Orange County located next to Los Angeles County.
It's Bush's fault...
Anybody know what the antibiotic of choice is here?
Tetracycline as I recall. Not sure of the spelling but you get the idea.
Ha. My bad.
As with all things California, there are "cute" rodents and "icky" rodents.
The cute ones are protected, while the icky ones are exterminated.
Unfortunately, they're all a variation of rat, and rats do what rats do.
This insanity has spread to my neighborhood, along with a similar influx of California expatriates.
Cute rodents also attract predators, which attract larger predators, which eventually eat the spandex-clad.
It all works out eventually.
Quoted without further comment...
There are a number of microbiologists [like me] who believe that the misnamed "Spanish" flu of 1918-1920 was also caused by at least two agents.
True, but the book I read said that the people were so dirty at that time that they often had rat fleas as well as human fleas. Also discussed the pneumonic transmission, air-borne.
Nope. It's caused by too many illegal aliens illegally aliening from places with too many rats. ~ Old_Mil
Yet another way America is celebrating diversity.
We need more guest workers. ~ putupjob
Well....what the heck....nobody has placed the blame so far, so I guess I have to....
It's Bush's fault... ~ B.O. Plenty
Correct, just another benefit from uncontrolled Chinese and south American illegals. This is why in the old days the sceened everyone. Why are we slipping back in time. ~ Roverman2K
*gentle cough*
Actually plague first came to the United States in the 1850's. The rail companies were legally importing Chinese coolies to work on the transcontinental railway.
There was a small plague outbreak in San Fransisco's Chinatown district. An alert doctor spotted the outbreak almost immediately, and appealed to the city council to institute a quarantine and rat catching program.
The town fathers refused to believe there was plague in their fair city.
They screwed around long enough for it to infect the local ground squirrel population where there was no hope stopping it from spreading. Thanks to their inaction, now one can be exposed to plague anywhere in the western US.
Any parallels one wishes to draw with a more recent "gay plague" are left to the reader as an exercise.
Those who do not learn the lessons of the past...
More cats, for sure! I could say a lot about this, but let me just emphasize that large cat populations really do lead to a low flea population.
Fleas are the main 'transmission vector' for boubonic plague, and a several other bad afflictions. The big base population of fleas live on rats, mice, moles, squirrels, et cetera. Vermin. Cats despise vermin in love to destroy them. Waterbugs, moths, anything. They sometimes get a lizard or some kind of bird or nice butterfly, but the big trend is to kill vermin.
Most cats kill any fleas that get on them, provided the base flea population is reasonably low, as it will be without vermin around to nourish them.
Any outside cat, especially one who is a prolific mouser, should be treated regularly for worms. A small price to pay.
That should thin the horde.......
In Albuquerque NM I was at a park trail on the outskirts. There I saw a warning sign that said to aavoid rodents and the like as they sometimes carried the bubonic plauge.
I always figured that wasn't unique to Albuquerque and must be common across the southwest.
I've read where some use a nebulizer and CS. FWIW.
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