HQ Team
July 13, 2025: A patient in Northern Arizona, US, has died from pneumonic plague, the first such death in the country since 2007, according to a government statement.
Confirmatory tests on the patient from Coconino County stated that the resident had a severe lung infection caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium that causes plague. The Health and Human Services officials received confirmatory test results, July 11, 2025, the day the patient died.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased,” said Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chair Patrice Horstman. “We are keeping them in our thoughts during this difficult time. Out of respect for the family, no additional information about the death will be released,” she said.
This is the first recorded death from pneumonic plague in Coconino County since 2007, when an individual had an interaction with a dead animal infected with the disease, according to a statement.
Low riskÂ
Plague is rare in humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of seven human plague cases are reported annually in the US. The risk to the public of exposure to plague remains low.
The disease can be transmitted to humans from the bite of an infected flea or through contact with an infected animal.Â
The last reported occurrence of human-to-human transmission was in 1924, according to the National Institutes of Health, which was typically spread through respiratory droplets.
The death on July 11 was not related to a recent report of a prairie dog die-off in the Townsend Winona area, northeast of Flagstaff, according to the statement.
Symptoms of plague in humans typically appear within one to eight days after exposure and may include fever, chills, headache, weakness, and muscle pain.Â
Swollen lymph nodes
Some individuals may also develop swollen lymph nodes or buboes in the groin, armpits, or limbs. The disease can become septicemic (spreading throughout the bloodstream) or pneumonic (affecting the lungs).
It is curable with proper antibiotic therapy if diagnosed and treated early.
Due to the endemic nature of plague in the southwest United States, CCHHS maintains a surveillance system for the disease. It also conducts surveillance for other endemic diseases, including West Nile virus, hantavirus, and rabies, to rapidly detect disease, understand its spread, and implement control measures to protect the public.
Plague is a rare but persistent cause of illness in rural areas in the western United States and certain regions of Africa and Asia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Historically, the plague was responsible for widespread pandemics with high mortality. It was known as the “Black Death” during the fourteenth century, causing more than 50 million deaths in Europe.
Nowadays, plague is easily treated with antibiotics and the use of standard precautions to prevent acquiring infection, according to the World Health Organization.
