Ms P wrote:
>
> "Cindy Hamilton" > wrote in message
> ...
> On Jul 17, 6:14 am, Andy <q> wrote:
>
> > Plague in the US?!? What plague?!? No epidemic here that I know of.
>
> Yersina pestis infections (usually contracted by contact with mouse
> feces)
> still occur, but with modern antibiotics we don't see epidemics of
> it. IIRC
> it's a problem mainly in the Southwest.
>
> Cindy Hamilton
>
> I think you might be confusing two diseases. The one that's usually
> contracted from mouse droppings and mostly in the southwest is hantavirus.
> The plague in the US is mainly in prairie dogs. The plagues, bubonic,
> pneumonic and septicemic are usually transmitted by fleas.
>
> Ms P

She isn't confusing anything. Plague in humans still occurs in the US
Southwest, transmitted by fleas which have bitten infected animals.
Someone from NM who contracted plague near his home nearly died in New
York because the doctors there had never seen a case of plague and
couldn't diagnose it quickly enough. The docs around here in NM are more
familiar with it and Hanta virus, so usually caught earlier.