One person has died of pneumonic plague in Arizona, according to Coconino County Health and Human Services.
It is the first reported plague death in that county since 2007; however, seven plague cases are reported every year in the United States on average, according to the CDC. There was one reported plague death last year of a New Mexico resident, in addition to two other cases—one in Oregon and one in Colorado—where the patients recovered.
No details will be released about the death in Arizona, “out of respect for the family,” Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chair Patrice Horstman said in a press release. “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased.”
Confirmatory test results from the patient were given to the county’s health service on July 11.
Although human cases of plague are rare in the United States, the bacteria that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, is endemic in the western United States since the bacteria traveled with fleas and rodents to North America with human migration in the 19th century. Prairie dogs—specifically their associated fleas—can be one source of plague exposure to humans. On July 7, a prairie dog die-off was reported in an area northeast of Flagstaff, Ariz., which is within Coconino County. However, county officials determined that the two events are unrelated, even though the die-off may mean that plague is circulating in the prairie dog population.
Based in part on Coconino County press releases.
