Reported Cases of Human Plague Infections in the United States, 1970–1991

Abstract

From 1970 to 1991, 295 indigenous cases and one imported case of human plague were reported in the United States. Eighty-two percent of the total indigenous cases occurred in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Ninety-three percent of these cases had onset in the months of April through November. Most cases (89%) presented as bubonic or septicemic plague, or both. Cases were reported more frequently in males (58%), and male mortality exceeded that of females (17 versus 11%). Ground squirrels were the most frequently implicated sources of infection in cases associated with flea bites, and domestic cats were found to play an increasingly important role in transmission of disease to humans during these decades.

Recent Advancement in the Development of Vaccines Against Y. pestis - A Potential Agent of Bioterrorism

“…1994). Recent data indicate that pneumonic plague should be suspected in symptomatic persons with a history of exposure to infected pets, especially cats (Craven et al, 1993;Doll et al, 1994;Gage et al, 1992).…”

Blood Meal Identification in Off-Host Cat Fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) from a Plague-Endemic Region of Uganda

“…5 Although research has not determined exactly where humans are most likely to encounter infectious fleas in Uganda, studies in other regions suggest that human exposure occurs most often in the domestic or peridomestic environment. 6,7 Researchers generally identify rat flea species, Xenopsylla brasiliensis, Xenopsylla cheopis, and Dinopsyllus lypusus, as the primary bridging vectors for Y. pestis in East Africa. [8][9][10] Some studies, however, have implicated the human flea, Pulex irritans, as a potentially important Y. pestis vector in regions where it is the predominant host-seeking (off-host) flea species in human habitations, although it is unclear to what extent its postulated role in human plague outbreaks derives from an ability to spread the bacterium from one person to another versus an ability to serve as a bridging vector from rodent hosts to humans.…”

Colorado Animal-Based Plague Surveillance Systems: Relationships between Targeted Animal Species and Prediction Efficacy of Areas at Risk for Humans

“…Previously, a temporally static spatial risk model for human exposure to the plague bacterium in the four corners region was published (Eisen et al 2007). Although this model helps clarify which areas in the American Southwest are most at risk for human plague and, therefore, can be used to target limited plague prevention resources, the fact that it is temporally static means that it cannot account for the fluctuating levels of human risk that occur as a result of alternating periods of low-risk enzootic and high-risk epizootic transmission (barnes 1982(barnes , craven et al 1993(barnes , Enscore et al 2002. consequently, there is a need for strategies such as animal-based plague surveillance, that are capable of rapidly identifying plague epizootics and providing public health authorities with sufficient warning to implement appropriate prevention measures before human cases occur.…”