A Colorado teenager and high school athlete who died earlier this month was killed by the bubonic plague, health officials have said.
Taylor Gaes died June 8 after he was afflicted by a severe illness he seemingly picked up on his family’s property. The Larimer County Health Department said he caught the plague — likely from fleas on an animal carcass somewhere.
Gaes is the first Larimer County resident to contract the plague since 1999, officials said.
Health officials have advised friends and relatives who were in close proximity to Gaes after his death to submit to a medical evaluation immediately — as the host fleas may have spread to others nearby.
Health experts said the plague is very rare, but can spread quickly among rodents in a localized area — and is often accompanied by mass animal “die-offs,” CBS Denver reported.
There are currently no other reported cases of plague in Larimer County, or anywhere in Colorado.
Bubonic plague first arrived in the United States in 1900 from rat-infested steamships arriving from other continents, mainly Asia. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last urban plague epidemic occurred in Los Angeles between 1924 and 1925.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...re-form-plague-killed-colorado-teen/29056459/
