Health officials in Los Angeles County announced yesterday that a squirrel found covered in fleas has tested positive for bubonic plague, the scourge that develops into the deadly pneumonic plague known as the Black Death and wiped out an estimated 200 million people in Europe during the 14th century. Last month, two pet dogs in New Mexico were also discovered with the disease, which is genetically very similar to the strain from the 1300s.
“It is the plague,” Dr. Mark Dimenna, deputy
of the Environmental Health Department, told local TV reporters from
KOAT 7. “It is the bubonic plague, the Black Death. It’s the same
organism that it always has been.” More
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