vostok
Well-Known Member
Apparently the plague is doing well in north merica, the local wildlife carries it about, guerrilla growers need to stay sharp, says the bbc!
There have been 15 cases in the US so far this year - compared to an average of seven, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - and the figure of four deaths is higher than in any year this century.
The bacterium responsible - Yersinia pestis - was introduced to the US by rat-infested steamships in 1900, according to Daniel Epstein of the World Health Organization (WHO).
"Plague was pretty prevalent, with epidemics in Western port cities. But the last urban plague was in Los Angeles in 1925. It spread to rural rats and mice, and that's how it became entrenched in parts of the US," he says.
The disease - typically transmitted from animals to humans by fleas - has a 30-to- 60% fatality rate if left untreated, however, antibiotics are effective if patients are diagnosed early.
Most cases occur in summer, when people spend more time outdoors.
"The advice is, take precautions against flea bites and don't handle animal carcasses in plague-endemic areas," says Epstein.
The areas in question are New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado, according to the CDC. All of this year's cases originated in those states, or in other states west of the 100th meridian, which Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Health Security, refers to as "the plague line".
"Prairie dogs are the main reservoir for plague, and they tend to be west of the 100th meridian," he says. The geography and climate of the Western US suits them, he explains, and the fact that they are "social animals" helps the infected fleas to spread.
link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34398099
There have been 15 cases in the US so far this year - compared to an average of seven, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - and the figure of four deaths is higher than in any year this century.
The bacterium responsible - Yersinia pestis - was introduced to the US by rat-infested steamships in 1900, according to Daniel Epstein of the World Health Organization (WHO).
"Plague was pretty prevalent, with epidemics in Western port cities. But the last urban plague was in Los Angeles in 1925. It spread to rural rats and mice, and that's how it became entrenched in parts of the US," he says.
The disease - typically transmitted from animals to humans by fleas - has a 30-to- 60% fatality rate if left untreated, however, antibiotics are effective if patients are diagnosed early.
Most cases occur in summer, when people spend more time outdoors.
"The advice is, take precautions against flea bites and don't handle animal carcasses in plague-endemic areas," says Epstein.
The areas in question are New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado, according to the CDC. All of this year's cases originated in those states, or in other states west of the 100th meridian, which Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Health Security, refers to as "the plague line".
"Prairie dogs are the main reservoir for plague, and they tend to be west of the 100th meridian," he says. The geography and climate of the Western US suits them, he explains, and the fact that they are "social animals" helps the infected fleas to spread.
link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34398099
