MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Four people contracted plague from a dog in the state of Colorado, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
According to the organization, the incident took place in the summer of 2014. The dog, an American Pit Bull Terrier, was brought to the vet suffering from the illness, and had to be euthanized the following day.
The owner of the dog, his friend and two veterinarians who treated the animal contracted plague, the CDC said. The owner of the dog spent 23 days in hospital, receiving a wide range of antibiotics before recovering. The three others have also recovered from the disease.
"Frankly one of the biggest surprises of this outbreak is the source… Primarily… dogs don't get sick at all or they get a minor illness," John Douglas, one of the study's authors, said, as quoted by local media.
Human plague is relatively rare in the United States, with an average of only eight cases treated annually, according to the CDC. The mortality rate of plague has been reduced to 16 percent due to the use of antimicrobial therapy. Despite this, the disease remains a concern in the Western United States, as it is common among rodents there.
