Plague Data in New Mexico
Plague is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis. People usually get plague from the bite of a rodent flea that is carrying plague bacteria or by handling an infected animal. Although plague is a rare disease, about half of U.S. cases each year occur in New Mexico. Today, modern antibiotics are effective against plague, but if an infected person is not treated promptly, the disease can be life-threatening.
For more information:
Plague Brochure 
Plague Fact Sheet (English) Plague Fact Sheet (Spanish)
Plague Information for New Mexico Physicians and Health Care Workers
New! Manual for Investigation and Control of Communicable Diseases in New Mexico, 2008: Plague Chapter
- There have been 256 cases of human plague in New Mexico since 1949 with 33 deaths
- Most New Mexico human plague cases have occurred in seven northern counties: Bernalillo, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos
An Eddy County man was confirmed as the first plague case in New Mexico in 2008. The man had the bubonic form of the disease and has recovered. He most likely acquired plague from hunting and skinning rabbits.
Four cats, three dogs, and a rock squirrel from Santa Fe County, two cats from Rio Arriba County, and one dog from Bernalillo County have been confirmed with plague since the beginning of the year. One cat developed pneumonic plague and died; the remaining pets recovered with antibiotic treatment. See press release of July 3, 2008 for more information about plague.
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Eisen RJ, Enscore RE, Biggerstaff BJ, et al. Human plague in the Southwestern United States, 1957-2004: spatial models of elevated risk of human exposure to Yersinia pestis. J Med Entomol. 2007;44:530-537.
Gage KL, Dennis DT, Orloski KA, et al.
Cases of cat-associated human plague in the Western US, 1977-1998. Clin Infect Dis. 2000;30:893-900.
Enscore RE, Biggerstaff BJ, Brown TL, et al.
Modeling relationships between climate and the frequency of human plague cases in the Southwestern United States, 1960-1997. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2002;66:186-196.