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Volume 25, Number 12—December 2019
Dispatch

Animal Exposure and Human Plague, United States, 1970–2017

Stefanie B. Campbell, Christina A. Nelson, Alison F. Hinckley, and Kiersten J. KugelerComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Main Article

Table 1

Characteristics of reported human plague case-patients, United States, 1970–2017*

Characteristic Total Animal exposure before illness
Yes No
Case-patients
482 (100)
258 (54)
224 (46)
Sex
M 278 (58) 152 (59) 126 (56)
F
204 (42)
106 (41)
98 (44)
Median age, y (range)
31 (<1–94)
33 (2–85)
24 (<1–94)
Race/ethnicity†‡
White 220 (46) 135 (52) 85 (38)
American Indian/Alaska Native 114 (24) 52 (20) 62 (28)
Not specified 94 (20) 45 (17) 49 (22)
Hispanic 51 (11) 25 (10) 26 (12)
Asian
3 (<1)
1 (<1)
2 (1)
Primary clinical form†
Bubonic 364 (76) 200 (78) 164 (73)
Septicemic 91 (19) 41 (16) 50 (22)
Pneumonic 15 (3) 13 (5) 2 (<1)
Pharyngeal 3 (<1) 2 (<1) 1 (<1)
Gastrointestinal 2 (<1) 1 (<1) 1 (<1)
Other and unknown
7 (1)
1 (<1)
6 (3)
Died
65 (14)
40 (16)
25 (11)
Known flea bite
104 (22)
49 (19)
55 (25)
State of exposure
New Mexico 253 (52) 124 (48) 129 (58)
Colorado 66 (14) 44 (17) 22 (10)
Arizona 62 (13) 33 (13) 29 (13)
Other and unknown 101 (21) 57 (22) 44 (20)

*Values are no. (%) unless otherwise indicated.
†Indicates statistically significant difference (α = 0.05) in proportion with characteristic between patients with animal exposure and those without animal exposure.
‡Several established race and ethnicity categories were absent among reported case-patient records and therefore not included.

Main Article

Page created: November 18, 2019
Page updated: November 18, 2019
Page reviewed: November 18, 2019
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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