Health
Bubonic plague in the US: Do you need to worry about catching the rodent-borne disease?
After a case of bubonic plague was confirmed in Oregon earlier this week, some people may wonder if there’s a danger of the disease spreading in the U.S.
The Oregon resident, who was the first to contract the infection since 2015, reportedly caught the infection from a pet cat, according to state health officials.
Experts shared with Fox News Digital what people should know about the infectious disease — including how to recognize symptoms, seek out treatment and prevent infection in the first place.
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What is bubonic plague?
The bubonic plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacterium that was likely first introduced in North America around 1900 from rats on ships coming from South Asia, according to Timothy Brewer, M.D., professor of medicine and epidemiology at UCLA.
Since its introduction 120 years ago, the bubonic plague has become endemic in ground squirrels and rodents in the rural Southwestern U.S. (iStock)
“Since its introduction 120 years ago, it has become endemic in ground squirrels and rodents in the rural Southwestern U.S.,” he told Fox News Digital.
Though the plague has most recently been found in Oregon, most cases occur around the “Four Corners” area of the Southwest — the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona and northwestern corner of New Mexico — primarily between late spring and early fall.
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Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland, noted that the Oregon case was a rare occurrence, but that it is important to recognize that plague is endemic to the western part of the United States and that pets can be exposed via rodents or other animals.
“However, this is not something that the general public needs to worry very much about,” he also told Fox News Digital.
Initial symptoms of the disease include fever, chills, a headache, weakness and the characteristic painful and swollen lymph nodes. (iStock)
Although the disease can affect people of all ages, half the cases involve patients between the ages of 12 and 45, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Globally, between 1,000 and 2,000 cases of plague are reported to the World Health Organization each year, although only an average of seven annual cases of are reported in the U.S.
Spread and symptoms
Yersinia is usually transmitted by one of three ways, according to Brewer.
“Those include being bitten by an infected flea, handling an infected animal (such as skinning a ground squirrel), or by breathing in dust contaminated by dried rodent urine or feces with the bacteria,” he said.
For people who live in a plague-endemic area of the U.S., one infectious diseases expert said they should be mindful that their dogs may encounter animals that could have the plague, such as prairie dogs. (iStock)
Erica Susky, a certified infection control practitioner based in Canada, said symptoms typically develop two to eight days after the initial exposure to the bacterium.
“It begins with fever, chills, a headache, weakness and the characteristic painful and swollen lymph nodes called buboes,” she told Fox News Digital. “The buboes form at the site of the bite from the infected rodent or flea.”
Anyone with these symptoms should seek immediate medical treatment if they have been exposed to an animal, generally a rodent or flea, Susky advised.
“The best way to avoid the disease is to avoid rodents in rural and semi-rural dry areas in the western U.S.”
“Bubonic plague is a serious infectious illness alone, but can also develop quickly into more severe and deadly forms of plague,” she warned.
“More serious forms include pneumonic and septicemic plague, which is where the bacteria invade the lungs and bloodstream,” Susky said.
With pneumonic plague, the patient experiences a cough, shortness of breath and chest pain, and it can end in respiratory failure, shock and death.
Septicemic plague results in shock and often death.
The Oregon resident, who was the first to contract the infection since 2015, reportedly caught the infection from a pet cat (not pictured), according to state health officials. (iStock)
The initial telltale symptom of the plague is an extremely swollen lymph node, according to Adalja.
“The danger is when the bacteria spreads from the involved lymph node systemically,” he warned. “It is critical to seek medical attention to prevent the infection from spreading.”
Treatment and prevention
Plague can be life-threatening if left untreated, Brewer said; but if diagnosed in time, it can be treated effectively with antibiotics, typically gentamicin or fluoroquinolones.
In patients with pneumonic plague, the CDC recommends starting a course of antibiotics within 24 hours of the start of symptoms.
Plague can be life-threatening if left untreated, but if diagnosed in time, it can be treated effectively with antibiotics. (iStock)
“The best way to avoid the disease is to avoid rodents in rural and semi-rural dry areas in the western U.S.,” Brewer advised.
“Be careful about cleaning out rodent nests, airing out cabins that have been closed up for the season, or other activities where contaminated dust could be stirred up and inhaled.”
For those who live in a plague-endemic area of the U.S., Adalja said they should be mindful that their dogs may encounter animals that could have plague, such as prairie dogs.
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“Keeping them leashed when they’re in areas where other animals might be present is something that individuals can do to prevent [transmission],” he said.
Brewer recommends keeping cats indoors to prevent them from picking up infected fleas, as well as using flea medications for cats and dogs.
Bubonic plague smear demonstrating the presence of Yersinia pestis bacteria, 1965. Bipolar staining of a plague smear prepared from lymph aspirated from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
“Plague is a dramatic but relatively rare disease,” Brewer said.
“Using common sense about avoiding rodents and keeping rodents away from pets and habitats in the Southwest U.S. should be sufficient prevention for most people.”
Susky agreed, adding, “Plague, though a serious infectious illness, is a smaller concern, as many people are much more likely to get infections from other bacteria and viruses.”
“However, it is still important to be aware of areas where plague can occur in larger numbers, which would be in the Western U.S.”
There is no vaccine currently available for bubonic plague.
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The key to feeling better in a fast, overstimulated world might be surprisingly simple: Live a little more like your grandparents.
A growing social media trend, dubbed “nonnamaxxing,” draws inspiration from the slower, more intentional rhythms associated with an Italian grandmother.
The lifestyle is often linked to activities like preparing home-cooked meals, spending time outdoors and making meaningful connections.
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“Nonnamaxxing is a 2026 trend that embraces the slower, more intentional lifestyle of an Italian grandmother (a Nonna). Think cooking from scratch, long family meals, daily walks, gardening and less screen time,” Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian, told Fox News Digital.
Nonnamaxxing, derived from the name for an Italian grandmother, is a trend that incorporates lifestyle habits hundreds of years in the making. (iStock)
Stepping away from screens and toward real-world interaction can have measurable benefits, according to California-based psychotherapist Laurie Singer.
“We know that interacting with others in person, rather than spending time on screens, significantly improves mental health,” she told Fox News Digital, adding that social media often fuels comparison and lowers self-esteem.
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Living more like previous generations isn’t purely driven by nostalgia. Cooking meals from scratch, for example, has been linked to better nutrition and more mindful eating patterns.
Adopting traditional mealtime habits can improve diet quality and support both physical and mental health, especially when meals are shared regularly with others, Palinski-Wade noted.
One longevity expert stresses that staying healthy isn’t just about food — it’s also about joy and community. (iStock)
There’s also a psychological benefit to slowing down and focusing on one task at a time. Anxiety often stems from unfinished or avoided tasks, Singer noted, and engaging in hands-on activities can counteract that.
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“Nonnamaxxing encourages us to be present around a task, like gardening, baking or knitting, or just taking a mindful walk, that delivers something ‘real,’” she said.
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Palinski-Wade cautions against turning the trend into another source of pressure, noting that a traditional “nonna” lifestyle often assumes a different pace of life.
The key, she said, is adapting the mindset, not replicating it perfectly.
Nonnamaxxing, derived from the name for an Italian grandmother, is a trend that incorporates lifestyle habits hundreds of years in the making. (iStock)
The goal is to reintroduce small, intentional moments that make you feel better.
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That might mean prioritizing a few shared meals each week, taking a walk without your phone or setting aside time for a simple hobby, the expert recommended.
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Singer added, “Having a positive place to escape to, through whatever activities speak to us and make us happy, isn’t generational – it’s human.”
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Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.
Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.
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“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr. Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.
Loneliness may be linked to memory performance in older adults, a new study suggests. (iStock)
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.
The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk. While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.
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The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019. Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.
Social isolation and loneliness could play a surprising role in cognitive health among seniors. (iStock)
Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.
About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset. That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.
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Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delayed memory tests at baseline. Still, all groups — regardless of loneliness level — experienced similar declines in memory over time.
The results suggest loneliness may not directly accelerate the progression of memory loss, though it remains linked to poorer cognitive performance overall.
Researchers look at a brain scan at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts warn, however, that the findings should not be interpreted to mean loneliness is harmless.
“The finding that lonely older adults start with worse memory but don’t decline faster is actually the most interesting part of the paper, and I think it’s easy to misread,” said Jordan Weiss, Ph.D., a scientific advisor and aging expert at Assisted Living Magazine and a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It likely means loneliness does its damage earlier in life, well before people show up in a study like this at 65-plus,” Weiss told Fox News Digital.
By older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold, an aging expert says. (iStock)
He suggested that by older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold.
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“By the time you’re measuring someone in their late 60s, decades of social connection patterns are already baked in,” he said.
Weiss, who was not involved in the research, added that loneliness may coincide with other health conditions, and noted that participants who felt more isolated also had higher rates of depression, high-blood pressure and diabetes. The link, he said, may reflect a cluster of health risks rather than a direct cause.
“While they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia,” a psychotherapist says. (iStock)
Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author, said the findings reflect a broader pattern in research on loneliness and brain health, and that the relationship may be more complex than it appears.
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“The evidence shows there’s a link between loneliness and cognitive decline but there’s no direct evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” she said. “So while they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia.”
Morin added that loneliness, which can fluctuate, may not be the root of the problem, but rather a symptom of other underlying mental or physical health issues.
Researchers suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging. (iStock)
She said staying socially and mentally engaged is crucial for overall brain health.
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“It’s important to be proactive about social activities,” Morin said. “Joining a book club, having coffee with a friend, or attending faith-based services can be a powerful way to maintain connections in older age.”
The researchers also suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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