What Is Pneumonic Plague? All You Need To Know About The Rare Illness That Claimed One Life In Arizona

A rare respiratory illness known as pneumonic plague killed one Arizona resident. Know signs and symptoms and treatments to take in the event when you contract with the deadly plague bacterium.

One resident of Arizona has recently died from pneumonic plague, which is a rare bacterial infection that affects the lungs, while receiving care at Flagstaff Medical Center, in the Grand Canyon State.

According to Northern Arizona Healthcare, which runs the hospital, the patient arrived at the emergency ward and died the same day from the illness that can spread from person to person.

Health officials confirmed in an emailed statement the cause of death on Friday, following test results.

What Is Pneumonic Plague?

The pneumonic plague is a life-threatening disease caused by the bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. It is one of the three forms of plague, the other two being bubonic and septicemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pneumonic plague is the most serious form among the three types.

An individual develops pneumonic plague when the Yersinia Pestis bacterium spreads to the lungs of a patient after inhaling infectious droplets coughed out from another person or animal with the same illness.

And as life-threatening as the disease is, the incubation period of pneumonic plague following inhalation of infectious droplets can be as short as +1 day.

The CDC also clarified that pneumonic plague can be developed when bubonic or septicemic plague are untreated.

Signs And Symptoms Of Pneumonic Plague

Pneumonic plague shows similar symptoms of respiratory illness.

According to the CDC, common signs of pneumonic plague are fever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes that includes bloody or watery mucus.

Treatment Of Pneumonic Plague

The World Health Organizations(WHO) states that plague can be treated with antibiotics and supportive therapy if the patients are diagnosed in time.

"Pneumonic plague can be fatal within 18 to 24 hours of disease onset if left untreated, but common antibiotics for enterobacteria (gram-negative rods) can effectively cure the disease if they are delivered early," WHO states.