Woman Has Rare Case of Bubonic Plague

[raccoon]

Wed Apr 19, 12:14 AM ET


LOS ANGELES - A woman is in stable condition with bubonic plague, the first confirmed human case in Los Angeles County since 1984, health officials said Tuesday.

<snip>

Health officials said they suspect the woman was exposed by fleas in her home and that there was no cause for alarm. An estimated 10 to 20 Americans contract plague each year, mostly in rural communities.

Bubonic plague is believed to have been the "Black Death" that killed 25 million people in Europe between 1346 and 1351.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20060419/ap_on_he_me/brf_bubonic_plague_1

We’re all gonna die! Head for the hills, or something! :silly:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Keep fleas down naturally

If you have a flea problem, try diatemaceous earth. It's ground up fossilized seashells, basically, and under a microscope each bit has sharp edges. When fleas (or other insects) walk over it, their ectoskeletons get scratched and they dry up and die. Get food grade DE to be really safe. You can google diatemaceous earth and find out how to use it.

[Ecumenist]

3. that's just creepy....

Fleas that carry plague? Please tell me that she lives up in the mountains somewhere, as in living on a dirt road named, "Grizzly Adams Circle". Ewww... I would be too ashamed to tell anyone that I had that level of flea infestation in my house..

[gkhouston]

8. if they've had a weird weather cycle, could be that a lot of her

neighbors have fleas. One year, about 15 years ago, Houston went through some weird weather pattern -- I don't even remember what it was anymore, unusually wet at the wrong time, too warm in the winter, who knows? -- anyway, there was one year where there was a bumper crop of fleas and quite a few people had them, even indoors. It was miserable. So many fleas that they gave up chomping on pets and decided people would be tasty, too. We had to sprinkle diatomaceous earth in the carpets to get rid of the damned things. And give the cats baths. :scared:

[Ecumenist]

9. Oh my Goodness..

I couldn't take it, I have to be honest...

[gkhouston]

15. at the time...

my best friend had ten cats. (Took in a pregnant stray and ended up keeping all the kittens.) OMG, just rounding them up for bath time was quite a feat! :rofl:

[EFerrari]

5. Someone told me that baking soda works as well on their

hateful little ectoskeletons but this testing facility has not independently tested that notion.

[librechik]

18. it's borax that works on the exoskeletons

and it works--(it's another word for diatomaceous earth)

[EFerrari]

19. Good to know, Thank you! n/t

[SmokingJacket]

11. Maybe that was in the incredible flea powder I bought several years ago...

I sprinkled it around my house and *never saw a single flea again*! It was supposedly natural. In fact, maybe it got stuck in my rugs, because my cat never again had fleas to the end of her life.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

13. I'll try that!

Our annual flea problem is just starting -- thank goodness we only have one carpeted room anymore!

[Ecumenist]

2. Exposed to plague carrying fleas ...

IN HER HOME??!! EEK!! Plague is endemic to the west....
<<<<<<<<IN THE BACK OF BEYOND, FROM CHIPMUNKS, GROUNDSQUIRRELS AND THE LIKE!!>>>
For crying out loud, not inside of HOMES!!!! that's just plain Nasty, just dirty, filthy nasty..

[welfare dependent]

4. plague

Don't be so alarmed. Fleas are just one of the vectors Yersinia pestis prefers.

[Ecumenist]

7. I know that welfare dependent..

Majored in Biology... know all about Yersinia pestis and it's intermediate hosts. That being said, you'll never get me to view the way that this lady contracted plague as anything other than sickening. Again, plague is endemic to most of the western states....IN THE WILDERNESS!! Not in modern domiciles.
BTW, welcome to DU.:hi: Interesting name you have there.... Makes me wonder...

[EFerrari]

6. I wonder if this lady was doing some kind of animal rescue?

A lot of folks trap and tame feral cats. That would be an explanation, anyway.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

10. Oh, she's just copy-catting

last night's episode of House.

[freeplessinseattle]

12. didn't some rats with bubonic plague escape from a lab last

year? I wondered if anything would ever come of it. let me see if I can find that article

[Le Taz Hot]

14. People, this is NOT that unusual

California gets these outbreaks every now and again. And yes, they come from fleas that can reside on wild or domestic animals. Tragically, if more cases pop up, they'll start killing mostly squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, marmots and any other creatures that might be carriers en masse.

And, btw, fleas usually have nothing to do with filth. Domestic animals can easily bring them in from the outside. Strays can carry them and they can live in grass. I have to de-flea my house and my animals every spring and though I'm not exaclty Martha Stewart, neither am I "filthy."

Lastly, bubonic plague is easily treatable with antibiotics. It really is not the scourge that it was in centuries past.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. No, it's not unusual.

Nevertheless, I'll bet Dobbs is getting ready to blame immigrants.

[undergroundpanther]

17. I did wildlife

rehab and the animals I got were infested.

Last year I got some baby Squirrels and they were flea central like usual.Because raising squirrels is eout of my league I took them to another rehhabber who as more experinced ..BUT they left some fleas behind which I had to destroy ASAP. I had no flea infestations,because I am viagent against fleas chiefly because I hate'em.Squirrels live in cities even and they got fleas, fleas are parasites looking fo a host,all it takes is a bite,even if said flea does not like human blood it has already bit.That woman may have not been"filthy".

[AnneD]

20. Hello.....

it is endemic in Western States among the rodent population (rats, squirrels, chipmunks, etc) as is the Hante virus. Very deadly so keep away from seemingly 'tame' (sick) wild animal and dead animals. When cats have bubonic plague, it manifests itself as pneumonia like symptoms. This is treatable with antibiotics. The only way it highly contagious to other humans is if it converts to pnuemonia bubonic plague (this is what happened in the Middle Ages). Then is spread by air borne dropletts.

Monty Python In search of the Holy Grail....

Bring out your dead!
CUSTOMER:
Here's one.
CART MASTER:
Ninepence.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:
What?
CUSTOMER:
Nothing. Here's your ninepence.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:
'Ere. He says he's not dead!
CUSTOMER:
Yes, he is.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not!
CART MASTER:
He isn't?
CUSTOMER:
Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm getting better!
CUSTOMER:
No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER:
Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
DEAD PERSON:
I don't want to go on the cart!
CUSTOMER:
Oh, don't be such a baby.
CART MASTER:
I can't take him.
DEAD PERSON:
I feel fine!
CUSTOMER:
Well, do us a favour.
CART MASTER:
I can't.
CUSTOMER:
CUSTOMER:
Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
CART MASTER:
No, I've got to go to the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
CUSTOMER:
Well, when's your next round?
CART MASTER:
Thursday.
DEAD PERSON:
I think I'll go for a walk.
CUSTOMER:
You're not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn't there something you can do?
DEAD PERSON:
I feel happy. I feel happy.

CUSTOMER:
Ah, thanks very much.
CART MASTER:
Not at all. See you on Thursday.

http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Scripts/HolyGrail/grail-02.html
Don't know how much dialog constitutes 4 paragraphs.