Bubonic Plague Case Confirmed in Los Angeles

A woman in Los Angeles was admitted to a hospital last Thursday with a fever, swollen lymph nodes, and several other symptoms. Doctors were startled when blood tests revealed that she had bubonic plague, the first case of such a diagnosis in Los Angeles County since 1984. The woman, who was not identified, was given antibiotics to stop the progression of the disease. Bubonic plague itself is not contagious, but if left untreated it can mutate into pneumonic plague, which is highly contagious.

Bubonic plague is believed to have been the "Black Death" that ravaged Europe between 1346 and 1351, killing over 25 million people. The plague is usually transmitted to humans from the bites of fleas infected by rodents carrying the disease. Health officials have said that they suspect the woman may have been exposed to the disease by fleas in her home, so there is no cause for public alarm. Approximately 10 to 20 people in rural American communities contract plague each year. Although the plague can be treated with antibiotics, about one in seven cases is fatal.

Last fall in New Jersey, three mice infected with bubonic plague went missing from a laboratory. The Public Health Research Institute on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey conducts bioterrorism research for the federal government. Authorities and lab personnel launched a search, but officials said that the rodents may have been stolen, eaten by other lab animals, or just unaccounted for due to a paperwork error.

The mice were injected purposely with the plague as part of an inoculation and vaccination experiment. Although state Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs told reporters that the mice would have died anyway if they got outside the lab, the FBI joined in the investigation, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The possibility of theft prompted the interrogation of two dozen employees who also underwent lie detector tests, but the mice were never located.