14 DAY TRIAL // A woman in Los Angeles is being treated for bubonic plague, the first case in the country since 1984, said health officials on Tuesday.
The patient began experiencing specific symptoms of the disease last week and is currently treated in the hospital. She may have contracted the illness, characterized by swollen, black lumps under the skin, from fleas in the area around her Country Club Park neighborhood.
"Bubonic plague is not usually transmissible from person to person. Fortunately, human plague infection is rare in urban environments, and this single case should not be a cause for alarm in the area where it occurred", said Jonathan Fielding, Director of Public Health of the Los Angeles County.
Bubonic plague is uncommon for people, but it is an endemic among squirrels around Tehachapi, Lake Isabella, Frazier Park, and in the Angeles National Forest between Los Angeles and Antelope Valley.
Officials said they set out traps for squirrels and other wild animals in order to determine the extent of the exposure. People are warned to avoid any contact with dead animals or fleas from rodents and pets.
The plague first surfaced in 1347, infamously known as the "Black Death", eradicating about 30% of Europe's population in the Middle Ages, the disease reappearing for the next 500 years.
The last major urban epidemic in the U.S. was in Los Angeles, in 1924, when tens of people died. Bubonic plague is transmitted through flea bites or direct contact with infected open wounds or sores and can be cured with antibiotics. Symptoms include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhea.