Overview

• A Coconino County resident died July 11 at Flagstaff Medical Center’s emergency department after rapid testing and autopsy confirmed Yersinia pestis
• This is the first recorded fatal case of pneumonic plague in the county since 2007
• County health officials determined the human infection is unconnected to the prairie dog die-off observed northeast of Flagstaff earlier in July
• Coconino County Health and Human Services and the CDC have begun collecting flea samples, treating burrows and monitoring rodent populations
• Authorities stress that plague remains rare in the western U.S., with an average of seven human cases annually, and that risk to the public is very low