A person in northern Arizona has died from a case of the plague, local health officials said.
The individual, who was not identified, was treated at Flagstaff Medical Center Emergency Department and died there the same day despite life-saving attempts, according to a statement from Northern Arizona Healthcare.
Rapid diagnostic testing by the Arizona Department of Health Services found that the patient had Yersinia pestis, which is the bacteria that causes the plague, according to Northern Arizona Healthcare.
Later, Coconino County health officials confirmed it was a case of pneumonic plague, which primarily impacts the lungs and is spread through airborne droplets.
The bubonic plague is historically associated with the Middle Ages in Europe, where it was rampant and led to one of the deadliest outbreaks in the continent's history — referred to as "The Black Death." It, too, is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and primarily affects the lymph nodes. The bubonic plague is typically transmitted through rodent flea bites.
Cases of the plague are extremely rare in the U.S., with an average of seven cases reported per year since 2000, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even rarer are deaths attributed to the plague, with the last death in the U.S. occurring in 2021.
There are three main types of plague: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic.
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Most of the cases that are reported come from the southwestern region, including Arizona, New Mexico, southern Colorado, Nevada, California and southern Oregon.
Symptoms usually include fever, headache, chills, and weakness and one or more swollen, painful lymph nodes, the CDC said.
Northern Arizona Healthcare said it is working with Coconino County Health and Human Services and the Arizona Department of Health Services to address contact tracing and community health information.
Editor's Note: This story originally said the case was bubonic plague, but has been corrected since health officials did not originally specify the type. It was later identified as a case of pneumonic plague.
