AJTMH ASTMH Job Mart
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 51(1), 1994, pp. 109-114
Copyright © 1994 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Doll, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Gage, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Doll, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Gage, K.

Cat-Transmitted Fatal Pneumonic Plague in a Person who Traveled from Colorado to Arizona*

John M. Doll{dagger}, Paul S. Zeitz, Paul Ettestad, Ann L. Bucholtz, Ted Davis AND Kenneth Gage
Vector and Zoonotic Control Section, Disease Prevention Services, Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, Arizona; Division of Field Epidemiology, Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Phoenix, Arizona; Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado; Pima County Forensic Science Center, Tucson, Arizona; Colorado Department of Health, Denver, Colorado

Plague, primarily a disease of rodents and their infected fleas, is fatal in 50% of infected humans if untreated. In the United States, human cases have been concentrated in the southwest. The most common modes of plague transmission are through flea bites or through contact with infected blood or tissues; however, primary pneumonic plague acquired from cats has become increasingly recognized. We report on the case investigation of a patient, presumably exposed to a plague-infected cat in Colorado, who presented with gastrointestinal symptoms, and subsequently died of primary pneumonic plague. Public health officials should be vigilant for plague activity in rodent populations, veterinarians should suspect feline plague in ill or deceased cats, and physicians should have a high index of suspicion for plague in any person who has traveled to plague enzootic areas.


* Support for publication of this article was provided by the Clinical Group of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.


{dagger} This article is dedicated to the late Dr. John Doll, who devoted his career to combating vector-borne discases in Arizona.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1994 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.