One person dies in the United States from the Black Death

A person has died in the state of Arizona (United States) due to pneumonic plague , one of the forms of the dreaded black plague , according to health authorities in Coconino County, where the death occurred.

As reported by the British media BBC , this is the first death from this disease recorded in the county since 2007. On that occasion, it was a person who had interacted with a dead animal infected with the plague-causing bacteria, Yersinia pestis.

A rare disease that never really went away

The Black Death is the same disease that, during the Late Middle Ages, ravaged the European continent, wiping out up to half the population and driving radical demographic and cultural change. Today, it is rare in humans and can be treated with antibiotics.

This doesn't mean that cases don't occur sporadically; according to information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , around seven cases of this disease are reported in the United States each year. According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), although three pandemics with high mortality rates have been recorded globally in recent centuries, it has been considered eradicated in Europe for 50 years.

For now, Coconino County health officials maintain that the risk of public exposure remains low.

A disease with many faces

The Black Death is, in any case, an infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, as explained by the Mayo Clinic (United States). The natural reservoir of the microorganism is small rodents, such as mice and rats , and the fleas that infest them; the most common form of transmission to humans is through the bite of these fleas.

It can usually be treated with antibiotics , but if left untreated, it is often fatal. It takes several different forms, which can occur in combination in the same person: a respiratory illness (pneumonic or pulmonary plague); a condition with swollen lymph nodes, high fever, and (sometimes) a rash; and a hemorrhagic and gastrointestinal illness with high fever and septic shock.

The plague is considered a potential biological weapon . Because of this, several governments, including the United States, have contingency plans in place should this use of the infection occur.

References

Tinshui Yeung. Arizona resident dies from plague, health officials say. BBC (2025). Accessed online at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7l8w8881qo on July 14, 2025.

CDC (2025). Plague - Maps and Statistics. Accessed online at https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps-statistics/index.html on July 14, 2025.

ECDC. Plague. Accessed online at https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/plague on 14 July 2025.

Mayo Clinic. Plague. Accessed online at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/plague/symptoms-causes/syc-20351291 on July 14, 2025.

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