A young girl in Colorado was recently diagnosed with the bubonic plague. Sierra Downing started feeling ill with fever symptoms, and her parents took her to the hospital when her fever spiked. The doctor could not give her a diagnosis and was flown into Denver, where doctors were able to identify the symptoms in time to treat Downing. Downing is recovering and may be able to go home in about a week. The last confirmed case of the bubonic plague was in 2006.
The bubonic plague is a bacterial infection responsible for killing millions of people in the 14th century and is identified with swollen lymph nodes in the groin and armpit area. About 50 percent of the European population died from the plague in the 14th century when it was referred to as the Black Death. The mortality rate untreated runs at around 90 percent. Downing’s mother says that her daughter probably contracted the disease while burying a dead squirrel.
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