Volume 18, Number 7—July 2012
Dispatch
Changing Socioeconomic Indicators of Human Plague, New Mexico, USA
, Rebecca J. Eisen, Kiersten J. Kugeler, Paul Ettestad, Pamela J. Reynolds, Ted Brown, Russell E. Enscore, James Cheek, Rudy Bueno, Joseph Targhetta, John A. Montenieri, and Kenneth L. GageTable 1
Characteristics of census block groups considered in analysis for human plague on the basis of 1980, 1990, and 2000 US Census data, New Mexico, USA*
| Variable | 1976–1985 |
1986–1995 |
1996–2007 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive, n = 64 | Negative, n = 405 | Positive, n = 29 | Negative, n = 430 | Positive, n = 20 | Negative, n = 434 | |||
| Population density/km2 | 4.34 (11.54) | 22.68 (264.48)† | 8.31 (34.66) | 23.46 (238.31) | 13.70 (31.82) | 25.96 (267.56) | ||
| Housing density/km2 | 1.46 (4.18) | 8.38 (107.56)† | 3.33 (12.57) | 9.33 (95.91) | 5.87 (12.13) | 11.30 (107.09) | ||
| Poverty rate‡ | 0.34 (0.23) | 0.22 (0.23)§ | 0.32 (0.42) | 0.28 (0.23) | 0.16 (0.18) | 0.24 (0.24)¶ | ||
| % Housing units | ||||||||
| Vacant | 12.0 (8.84) | 10.8 (7.09) | 14.0 (15.54) | 14.5 (16.34) | 8.4 (10.77) | 10.7 (18.46) | ||
| Rural farms | 2.1 (5.19) | 1.3 (6.03)§ | 0 (1.18) | 0 (0.66) | 0 (1.02) | 0 (1.24) | ||
| Occupied, incomplete plumbing# | 8.6 (15.93) | 2.5 (6.22)† | 7.5 (30.57) | 2.3 (9.21)§ | 1.5 (5.77) | 1.1 (4.47) | ||
| Occupied mobile homes | 16.2 (5.89) | 15.5 (17.88) | 17.4 (23.31) | 23.7 (20.25) | 17.1 (13.19) | 18.4 (24.21) | ||
| Built before 1940 | 16.0 (14.98) | 11.4 (16.92)§ | 6.7 (16.81) | 5.0 (15.67) | 3.7 (10.38) | 3.8 (11.72) | ||
| >40 y old | 16.0 (14.98) | 11.4 (16.92)§ | 14.3 (20.38) | 11.1 (22.71) | 8.3 (22.42) | 15.8 (25.83) | ||
| <5 y old | 20.6 (11.06) | 21.7 (19.65) | 17.1 (21.42) | 13.6 (13.97) | 21.5 (15.43) | 14.5 (14.86)§ | ||
| Heated with wood fuel | 18.5 (20.80) | 6.8 (16.73)† | 31.56 (34.65) | 13.0 (31.99)† | 16.9 (21.79) | 6.8 (20.91)¶ | ||
| Occupied by >6 persons | 9.5 (6.28) | 7.1 (4.89)§ | 5.4 (11.97) | 5.0 (6.90) | 3.3 (4.48) | 3.5 (5.94) | ||
| Household income** | $28,477 ($11,544) | $30,190 ($16,367)¶ | $29,644 ($30,784) | $28,822 ($16,775) | $44,098 ($30,563) | $31,323 ($18,541)§ | ||
| Value of homes** | $85,280 ($67,672) | $95,791 ($78,706) | $83,614 ($104,492) | $80,237 ($75,854) | $132,350 ($90,050) | $84,300 ($90,400)¶ | ||
| Year housing unit built | NA | NA | 1972 (9) | 1974 (11) | 1987 (13) | 1979 (11)§ | ||
| % Census block group area | ||||||||
| Ecotone habitat†† | 2.8 (11.36) | 0 (3.34)† | 5.5 (13.44) | 0 (4.33)† | 10.7 (23.28) | 0 (4.63)† | ||
| Water | 0.60 (0.45) | 0.56 (0.83) | 0.60 (0.31) | 0.56 (0.71) | 0.43 (0.33) | 0.58 (0.67) | ||
*Values are medians (interquartile ranges) for plague-positive and negative census block groups in the respective time frames. Boldface indicates variables significantly different between positive and negative groups. NA, not available.
†p≤0.001, by Wilcoxon rank sum test.
‡Defined by the US Census Bureau as the proportion of the population living near or below the federal poverty line, which is based on household income adjusted for number of household members. The definition of the federal poverty line changed between the 1980 and 1990 censuses. Therefore, rates are not directly comparable across decennials.
§p≤0.01, by Wilcoxon rank sum test.
¶p≤0.05 by Wilcoxon rank sum test.
#Defined by the US Census Bureau as lacking >1 of the following: hot and cold piped water, a flush toilet, and a bathtub or shower. Values are not directly comparable among censuses. In 1980, a housing unit was considered to have complete plumbing only if plumbing fixtures were for exclusive for the residents of that unit. In 1990, the requirement of exclusive use was dropped.
**In US year 2000–adjusted dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar.
††Identified as the convergence of the Rocky Mountain/Great Basin open and closed coniferous woodland habitats by Eisen et al. (6).
1Current affiliation: Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.
