Bubonic Plague from Direct Exposure to a Naturally Infected Wild Coyote

C. Fordham von Reyn Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Plague Branch, Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Insect and Rodent Control Section, Environmental Improvement Agency, New Mexico Health and Social Services Department, Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

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Allan M. Barnes Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Plague Branch, Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Insect and Rodent Control Section, Environmental Improvement Agency, New Mexico Health and Social Services Department, Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

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Neil S. Weber Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Plague Branch, Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Insect and Rodent Control Section, Environmental Improvement Agency, New Mexico Health and Social Services Department, Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

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Thomas Quan Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Plague Branch, Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Insect and Rodent Control Section, Environmental Improvement Agency, New Mexico Health and Social Services Department, Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

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W. J. Dean Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Plague Branch, Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Insect and Rodent Control Section, Environmental Improvement Agency, New Mexico Health and Social Services Department, Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.1976.25.626
Volume/Issue:
Volume 25: Issue 4
Page(s):
626–629
Restricted access
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An 11-year-old boy developed axillary bubonic plague and plague meningitis 3 days after skinning a dead coyote near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The coyote carcass was recovered 10 days later, and Yersinia pestis was isolated from spleen and marrow of the animal. This is the first report of human plague from exposure to a coyote. A review of experimental and epidemiologic studies suggests that severe plague infection in members of the family Canidae is unusual, and that the risk of acquiring plague from direct contact with coyote tissues is minimal. Nevertheless, certain precautions are outlined for persons working with wild coyotes.

Author Notes

EIS Officer, located in the New Mexico Health and Social Services Department. Present address: Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA 02215.

Copyright:
Copyright © 1976 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 1976
Accepted:
29 Nov 1975
|
Published Online:
Jul 1976
Cover The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Print ISSN:
0002-9637

Diagnostic Procedures and Reagents

Technics for the Laboratory Diagnosis and Control of the Communicable Diseases, American Public Health Association, Ed., pp. v plus 589, 6 plates in color, cloth, New York, Am. Pub. Health Assoc. Inc., 1950, $6.00

An Introduction to Medical Protozoology

With Chapters on the Spirochaetes and on Laboratory Methods. By Robert Knowles, B.A., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Lt. Col., Indian Medical Service, Calcutta. Thacker, Spink and Company. 1928. Pages I–XII, 1–887

Author:
Chas. F. Craig
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