An old disease comes back to haunt Colorado as a 7 year old girl catches the plague from fleas found on a dead squirrel as she was camping with her family.
According to the Daily Mail, 7-year-old Sierra Jane Downing has been diagnosed with bubonic plague, in state’s first case since 2006. The bubonic plague, also known as Black Death, was found in Sierra as doctors believe she contracted the deadly virus from a dead squirrel while camping with her family in Pagosa Springs.
Sierra was rushed to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children last week as she was experiencing a high fever. The 7-year-old was then transported by helicopter to Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center in Denver. According to Dr. Wendi Drummond, “She originally presented with a temperature of 107 degrees. She had also had a seizure.” Both Dr. Drummon and Dr. Jennifer Snow treated Sierra and diagnosed her with the disease. As Dr. Snow recalls, “She had a high heart rate and low blood pressure. It all originally pointed to signs of what’s called septic shock.”
While neither doctor has seen a case of the bubonic plague before, the more they investigated, the more they began to suspect that it was what Sierra had. After administering the antibiotic gentamicin, Sierra had a poor two days before becoming healthy enough to leave the pediatric ICU.
Model of Bubonic Plague photo by dctim1
7 Year Old Girl Catches the Plague from Fleas Found on a Dead Squirrel.
