A department spokesman, Deborah Busemeyer, says a man in critical condition was hospitalized due to septicemic form of the disease in which the plague bacteria multiply in the bloodstream. Another women from Bernalillo County died last week from septicemic form of the plague and she was the first to die.
Bite from an infected flies or direct contact with infected animals like rodents, wildlife and pets can transmit plague.C. Mack Sewell, state epidemiologist for the department reports that to reduce plague spread, it is better to avoid rodents and fleas by getting wound and keep pet animals with an effective flea control product.
Signs may include from fever; painful swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck, chills, headache, vomiting and to diarrhea for bubonic plague. No human cases were found in 2004 after a death in 1994.
Keeping home nearby areas clean, rodents-free envirnment, avoiding sick or dead rodents, keeping pets from roaming or hunting, teaching children not to play near rodent nests or burrows – are the precautions given by the department to avoid plague.
