Deschutes County health officials have confirmed that a resident has been diagnosed with bubonic plague, marking the first time a case of the disease has been reported in Oregon in eight years.
Emily Horton, public health program manager for Deschutes County Health Services, said the resident likely contracted Y. pestis from an infected pet cat that was showing symptoms of the disease.
Horton said the county confirmed the infection last Wednesday and the patient was treated in the early stages of infection. However, the cat died “after a significant illness.”
Horton said authorities believe the domestic cat contracted the plague from a rodent. Bubonic plague, he said, refers to a common infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, and that it “naturally occurs in wild hosts, including a wide variety of rodents, including mice, chipmunks, and squirrels.” It is occurring in.”
There are two ways the bacteria could have infected pet cats, Horton said. Either the fleas infected the cat by biting a rodent that carried the bacteria, or the cat ingested or played with an infected rodent.
“We don't have a lot of fleas in central Oregon, so it's likely that the cat was infected directly from an infected rodent,” she says.
Horton urged pet owners to keep their animals away from rats, squirrels and other rodents.
“We know that there is a reservoir of naturally occurring bacteria in rodents all along the West Coast,” Horton says. “I would therefore like to warn people to do everything they can to protect their pets from contact with rodents, especially as cats are well known to prey on rodents. .”
No other cases of bubonic plague were reported or discovered during the county's investigation into the incident, Horton said. He said the county worked to identify patients and residents who may have had contact with or been exposed to the infected cat and provided them with “prophylactic antibiotics” to prevent infection.
According to Deschutes County Health Services, people infected with the plague usually begin experiencing symptoms such as fever, nausea, body aches, and weakness within two to eight days after infection. Other common symptoms include chills and visible swollen lymph nodes.
Horton said humans and animals affected by the disease can be treated with antibiotics if symptoms are caught early. However, this disease can be fatal if left untreated.
–Kristin de Leon. kdeleon@oregonian.com
