--- description: Yes, that plague. It's the second such incident in the state this year. title: The Plague Claims One Life in Colorado image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Infectious Disease](/tag/infectious-disease/) ## Infectious Disease Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Plague Claims One Life in Colorado by [Eric Dodds](/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2015 3:43 PM CUT by [Eric Dodds](/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2015 3:43 PM CUT One adult has [died](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/05/health/colorado-plague-death/ "undefined") in Colorado from the disease most commonly known as simply “the plague,” according to Pueblo City-County Health Department. Vastly more common in 14th century Eurasia, the plague is rarely found in the modern-day United States, though the Colorado incident is not the first time the disease has made an appearance in recent years. No other details about the victim have been released, but the Pueblo City-County Health Department said in a press release that “the individual may have contracted the disease from fleas on a dead rodent or animal.” While bubonic plague is the most common type of the disease, plague can take multiple forms including pneumonic and septicemic. Colorado has played host to a handful of plague cases in recent years, including eight separate incidents in 2014 and one in 2015 that resulted in the death of a teenager. None, however, occurred in Pueblo County. Typically, the plague isn’t deadly if properly treated with antibiotics and antimicrobials. \[[CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/05/health/colorado-plague-death/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/"},"headline":"Plague Claims One Life in Colorado","datePublished":"2015-08-06T15:43:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:57:47.857Z","description":"It's the second such incident in the state this year","url":"https://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/","keywords":["Infectious Disease"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Dodds","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/","name":"Plague Claims One Life in Colorado"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Images of a Forgotten Plague","description":"Emerging strains of tuberculosis are deadlier than ever. TIME photographer James Nachtwey captures the crisis","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/agGgvoMM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2008-10-02T22:27:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/agGgvoMM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/","duration":"PT3M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```