Epidemiology
Endemic in western US (as scattered cases in rural areas)
Etiology
- Pathogen: Yersinia pestis
- Reservoir: prairie dogs, squirrels, rodents
- Transmission
- Bites by infected fleas
Pathophysiology
Clinical features
- Bubonic plague (most common)
- Sudden onset of fever, headache, myalgias, chills, and painful swollen lymph nodes (buboes)
- May progress to sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis.
- Pneumonic plague
- Signs of pneumonia
- Rapid progression with possible respiratory failure and shock
- Septicemic plague: clinical features of sepsis, possible shock, abdominal pain