Hikin_Jim wrote:So, a few more facts on plague. See this World Health Organization plague information
Transmission is generally by flea bites, the fleas having been on infected animals. This method of plague transmission accounts for about 85 percent of the human cases of plague. Contact with squirrels, chipmunks, rats, etc. should be avoided. Dogs and cats may bring plague-infected fleas into the home. Pets should be prevented from coming into contact with potentially infected rodents.
According to Wikipedia, "Without treatment, the bubonic plague kills about two thirds of infected humans within 4 days."Um, you probably don't want to look at the photos at that Wikipedia link unless you have a strong stomach.
There are three forms of plague:
Bubonic form is the most common form of plague resulting from the bite of an infective flea. Plague bacillus enters the skin from the site of the bite and travels through the lymphatic system to the nearest lymph node. The lymph node then becomes inflamed because the plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis or Y. pestis, will replicate here in high numbers. The swollen lymph node is called a "bubo" which is very painful and can become suppurated as an open sore in advanced stage of infection;
Septicaemic form of plague occurs when infection spreads directly through the bloodstream without evidence of a "bubo". More commonly advanced stages of bubonic plague will result in the presence of Y. pestis in the blood. Septicaemic plague may result from flea bites and from direct contact with infective materials through cracks in the skin.
Pneumonic form of plague is the most virulent and least common form of plague. Typically, pneumonic form is due to a secondary spread from advanced infection of an initial bubonic form. Primary pneumonic plague results from inhalation of aerosolized infective droplets and can be transmitted from human to human without involvement of fleas or animals. Untreated pneumonic plague has a very high case-fatality ratio.
The bacterium identified at Fern Basin campground, Yersinia pestis, can cause all three forms of the plague. The primary prophylaxis is to avoid areas where plague has been identified.
HJ
And those hunters out there had "no idea" that mother nature was firing her own guns right back at them
HJ does any of the transfer happen from eating let's say a "deer" that was bitten by a tick that had it then consumed by a hunter and his family?
