00:00 Health officials announced a resident in Oregon was diagnosed with the bubonic plague,
00:05 marking the state's first human case in more than eight years.
00:08 Experts say the person was likely infected by their cat, who had developed symptoms.
00:14 Science Alert notes that the bubonic plague might sound like a disease of the past,
00:18 but the bacterium behind the disease is still out there, causing thousands of human infections
00:23 worldwide year after year, although cases in the U.S. are still extremely rare.
00:29 The site also reports that usually an infection of this kind starts with flu-like symptoms,
00:34 including fatigue, fever, chills and a headache.
00:37 The infection in Oregon has progressed past that.
00:40 The patient in Oregon is reportedly responding well to modern antibiotics,
00:45 and their close contacts have also been treated to curb the possibility of further spread.
00:50 Officials have not said how the infection spread from the cat to the owner.
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