Associated Press
SANTA FE — A Torrance County woman hospitalized last week with bubonic plague has died, the second plague fatality in New Mexico this year.
The state Department of Health said today the woman died over the weekend.
The Department of Health is investigating the woman's home to see if there is an ongoing threat of plague to other people. She had contracted the first case of bubonic plague in the central New Mexico county this year.
New Mexico's earlier plague death came in May, when a woman from Bernalillo County died of the septicemic form of the plague.
Plague, a bacterial disease, generally is transmitted through the bites of infected fleas, but people also can get it by direct contact with infected rodents, wildlife and pets.
The disease — the infamous Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages — is treatable nowadays with antibiotics. Health officials stress the importance of prompt diagnosis to reduce the fatality rate.
There are three clinical forms of plague — bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. The most common is bubonic, which causes painful swollen lymph nodes. Septicemic plague occurs when the bacteria multiply in the blood. Pneumonic plague is in the lungs.
The Health Department also reported a sixth case of plague in the state this year. A Bernalillo County woman was hospitalized last week, but has recovered.
The Albuquerque Environmental Health Department was doing an investigation around her home to determine if there was any further risk.
The state does not release the names of plague victims.
''Plague cases cycle up and down from year to year, and we have been in a down cycle the last few years,'' said C. Mack Sewell, state epidemiologist. ''However, it's not unusual to see this many cases due to environmental conditions such as rainfall and a larger rodent population.''
Most people become ill two to seven days after being infected.
Symptoms of bubonic plague include painful swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck; fever; chills; and sometimes headache, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The most common symptoms in cats are fever, lethargy, not eating and swollen lymph nodes, usually in the neck. Dogs generally have mild or no symptoms.
New Mexico reported four human plague cases last year. The state had no cases in 2004.
Health officials said the best way to avoid the disease is to avoid rodents and fleas. The Health Department warned people to stay away from sick or dead rodents, teach children not to play near rodent nests or burrows, clean up areas around the house where rodents could live, use flea control products on pets and keep pets from roaming.
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