All three bubonic plague cases in New Mexico have recovered: New Mexico health officials
In a follow-up to yesterday’s report of a third case of human plague being confirmed in New Mexico, state health officials are reporting that all three cases were bubonic and the three patients have recovered from their illness, according to a posting on Pro Med Mail.
In a posting to the infectious disease website, Dr. Paul Ettestad, New Mexico State Veterinarian noted, “All three of the human cases in New Mexico this year presented with inguinal buboes (enlargements of the lymph nodes in the groin area).
“All three have recovered. The peak of cases in New Mexico is usually in the summer months of June and July, but with all of the recent rains in the area, fleas are able to survive longer outside of rodent burrows while questing for a blood meal.”
On Thursday, the New Mexico Department of Health reported a case of human plague in a 52-year-old Santa Fe County man.
This case follows the two cases reported in children in Torrance County. In August, a 15-year-old teenager contracted the potentially deadly bacterial disease and earlier this month, an 11-year-old girl was diagnosed with plague.
This is the third human case of plague in New Mexico and in the United States this year.
There was one human plague case in New Mexico in 2012, two human cases of plague in 2011, no cases in 2010, and six human cases of plague in 2009, one of them fatal.
Related story: Congo, Madagascar top countries reporting most plague 2000-2009, US reports 57 cases
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[…] All three bubonic plague cases in New Mexico have recovered: New Mexico … In a posting to the infectious disease website, Dr. Paul Ettestad, New Mexico State Veterinarian noted, “All three of the human cases in New Mexico this year presented with inguinal buboes (enlargements of the lymph nodes in the groin area). “All three … Read more on The Global Dispatch […]