Colorado Teen Dies Of Plague

The Los Angeles Times (6/21, Shepherd) reported in “Nation Now” that 16-year-old Taylor Gaes of Colorado died on June 8 “from a rare case of the plague, officials said.” The young man’s “illness didn’t present with the telltale sign of the infection – swollen lymph nodes – which would have alerted officials to the illness sooner, said Katie O’Donnell, a Larimer County Health Department spokeswoman.” Rather, Gaes “suffered from a fever and muscle aches, which at first made his sickness look like the flu.”

        The Washington Post (6/21, Holley) “Morning Mix” reports that health “authorities suspect” that Gaes “contracted bubonic plague from fleas on a dead rodent or other animal on his family’s rural property near Fort Collins,” CO. The Post points out that “an average of seven human plague cases are reported each year across the country, according to the” CDC.

        Also covering the story were the Denver Post(6/21, Mitchell), the Fort Collins (CO) Coloradoan(6/20, Pohl), and the Fox News (6/21) website.