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dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 06:52 AM Sep 2012

Girl Catches Bubonic Plague From Squirrel

A seven-year-old girl in Colorado is recovering from bubonic plague, the illness that caused the Black Death and wiped out up to 60% of Europe's population in the 14th century.

Sierra Jane Downing became ill after trying to bury a dead squirrel while on a camping trip with her family in Colorado.

She developed a 107 F (41.67 C) fever and had a seizure, prompting her frightened father to rush her to a hospital where she was stabilised before being flown to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children.

Dr Jennifer Snow, the paediatrician who treated Sierra, said the child's unusual symptoms were puzzling.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/girl-catches-bubonic-plague-squirrel-024949496.html

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Girl Catches Bubonic Plague From Squirrel (Original Post) dipsydoodle Sep 2012 OP
this happened -- sans squirrel -- in what was it? oregon? not to long ago as well. nt xchrom Sep 2012 #1
there was a cat and a 'rodent' involved there Viva_La_Revolution Sep 2012 #9
Oh now come on.. iamthebandfanman Sep 2012 #2
Have you still got red and greys ? dipsydoodle Sep 2012 #4
mostly fox squirrels iamthebandfanman Sep 2012 #5
Carling Black Label - Mission Impossible (squirrel) dipsydoodle Sep 2012 #6
My pine squirrels are bouncing back Viva_La_Revolution Sep 2012 #10
The American west is one of the places in the world that plague is endemic. HereSince1628 Sep 2012 #3
This is scary darkangel218 Sep 2012 #7
I am pretty sure this was a ground squirrel. Almost every year someone on the Navajo reservation byeya Sep 2012 #8
At least it's not completely fatal now treestar Sep 2012 #11

iamthebandfanman

(8,127 posts)
2. Oh now come on..
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 07:01 AM
Sep 2012

i love squirrels...

i gleefully yell 'squirreler!' every time i encounter one..

*sigh*

cant even enjoy squirrelers any more. sheesh.

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
4. Have you still got red and greys ?
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 07:07 AM
Sep 2012

Once upon a time we only had reds in the UK. US greys got in and more or less completely screwed the red population here.

iamthebandfanman

(8,127 posts)
5. mostly fox squirrels
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 07:16 AM
Sep 2012

i think..maybe some grey ones too..

now that i know what a red one looks like exactly, ill keep on the look out..

i think they are super amusing to watch and go out of my way to get them (and rabbits) away from roads

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
6. Carling Black Label - Mission Impossible (squirrel)
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 07:23 AM
Sep 2012

One of our beer adverts from years ago.



I'd always thought they gathered up nuts for the winter and stored them in one place. That was until I watched them in my garden, back yard to you, burying them individually. I get hazel trees growing here there and everywhere.

Viva_La_Revolution

(28,791 posts)
10. My pine squirrels are bouncing back
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 10:46 AM
Sep 2012

2 years ago we saw one occasionally, now this year we have at least one breeding pair in the yard I thought they were chipmunks when I first saw them.. so cute, but LOUD when they start chattering at the cats. they are North American Douglas Squirrels and as long as we feed the grey squirrels a few peanuts they seem to leave the little guys alone.

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts)
3. The American west is one of the places in the world that plague is endemic.
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 07:05 AM
Sep 2012

IMO, the low number of cases in the US despite it's wide presence should be more reassuring rather than alarming.

 

byeya

(2,842 posts)
8. I am pretty sure this was a ground squirrel. Almost every year someone on the Navajo reservation
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 08:23 AM
Sep 2012

dies of bubonic plague. It's carried by the fleas which live on mammals.

I was part of a study and collected ground squirrels, froze the carcasses, and shipped them to a
federal lab. Most of the fleas carried plague.

I am surprised that more people don't die from it in the arid west.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
11. At least it's not completely fatal now
Thu Sep 6, 2012, 10:49 AM
Sep 2012
The doctors quickly administered gentamicin, an antibiotic effective against the plague, but Sierra became sicker before improving.
"Certainly, if you get the appropriate treatment early enough, the mortality rate can be low but there's such a short time frame and a short window of opportunity you have to do that and that was the key," said Dr Snow.


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