A NEW case of the dreaded bubonic plague has been detected in the US. The horrifying disease which can leave sufferers coughing up blood was responsible for the Black Death in medieval Europe and killed millions of people. Local officials said it's unclear how the unnamed person in Colorado contracted the disease, though it's usually spread through bites from fleas and infected animals.
Scientists have previously found samples of the bacteria living in squirrels in the state. The plague has become very rare in the US and Europe since the 15th-century outbreak, largely thanks to lifestyle changes that prevent it from spreading to humans from infected fleas as easily. But cases continue to crop up in rural areas of the US, including northern Arizona, southern Colorado and southern Oregon.
In February this year, one unlucky cat owner in Oregon picked up the bug after her cat tested positive for the infection. The patient has since been treated with antibiotics and was said to be responding well. At the time, health officials said there was "little risk" to other people in the community.
The following month, health officials in Lincoln County, New Mexico, announced a man had died of the disease . "Plague has always been with us, and nowadays, it rarely causes big outbreaks," Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, University of East Anglia (UEA), previously told the Sun . "But when it does, it is usually because the infection spread from animals living with humans.
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