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In Colorado, plague case confirmed in human, health officials say: ‘Must be treated promptly’

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In Colorado, plague case confirmed in human, health officials say: ‘Must be treated promptly’

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A human case of the plague has been confirmed in Pueblo County, Colorado, according to health officials.

The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE) is working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to investigate, according to a press release.

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No specific information was provided about the person who contracted the plague.

BUBONIC PLAGUE IN THE US: DO YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT CATCHING THE RODENT-BORNE DISEASE?

“We advise all individuals to protect themselves and their pets from plague,” Alicia Solis, program manager of the Office of Communicable Disease and Emergency Preparedness at PDPHE, stated in the release.

What is the 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.

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.  (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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“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.

Although the disease can affect people of all ages, half the cases involve patients between the ages of 12 and 45, as stated on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

‘ARCTIC ZOMBIE VIRUSES’ COULD BE RELEASED BY CLIMATE CHANGE FROM THAWING PERMAFROST, SOME SCIENTISTS CLAIM

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 are in the U.S.

If left untreated, the plague has a fatality rate of 30% to 60%. 

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With antibiotics, that drops to below 5%.

Squirrel with hand

“Since its introduction 120 years ago, [bubonic plague] has become endemic in ground squirrels and rodents in the rural Southwestern U.S.,” an expert told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

Symptoms and spread

Symptoms of the plague typically include severe headache, fever and chills, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and swollen lymph nodes, the health department listed.

The plague can spread by droplets from one person infected with Y. pestis to another, according to Erica Susky, a certified infection control practitioner based in Canada

“The more common risk of exposure in the U.S. is from pets, rodents and fleas,” she told Fox News Digital. 

Man at doctor

Symptoms of the plague typically include severe headache, fever and chills, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and swollen lymph nodes. (iStock)

“Pets can sometimes be infected when encountering an infected flea or rodent and may pass it along to their pet owners from a bite or if the pet is ill.”

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Another possible source is from hunting, she said — “skinning animals is also a risk, as the bacterium can spread via infected body fluids.”

“Treat pets promptly if they have a flea infestation and seek veterinary treatment if a pet becomes ill.”

Breathing in dust contaminated by dried rodent urine or feces with the bacteria can also spread the infection, according to Brewer.

Preventing the plague

The best means of prevention is to avoid rodents and fleas whenever possible, including dead rodents, Susky said.

“One way to do this is to ensure the home is rodent-proof by eliminating places where rodents may enter and hide,” she told Fox News Digital. 

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Whenever possible, pets should be kept indoors, Susky recommended. 

If pets are outdoors, they should be leashed. 

Treat pets promptly if they have a flea infestation and seek veterinary treatment if a pet becomes ill,” Susky advised.

Person applies bug spray outside.

“If spending time outdoors where one may be bitten by fleas and other insects, repellent should be applied to minimize potential bites, which are a portal of entry for the bacterium if one is bitten by an infected flea,” an infectious diseases expert advised. (iStock)

Hunters should wear gloves and wash their hands after skinning animals, and should change and wash their clothes afterward, she added.

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The PDPHE also recommends keeping pet food in rodent-proof containers and not allowing pets to sleep in bed.

“If spending time outdoors where one may be bitten by fleas and other insects, repellent should be applied to minimize potential bites, which are a portal of entry for the bacterium if one is bitten by an infected flea,” Susky said.

Plague test

Anyone who develops symptoms of plague should see a health care provider immediately, officials advised. (iStock)

Anyone who develops symptoms of plague should see a health care provider immediately, Solis advised in the PDPHE alert.

“Plague can be treated successfully with antibiotics, but an infected person must be treated promptly to avoid serious complications or death.”

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For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews/health

Fox News Digital reached out to the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for comment.

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Elon Musk's mother Maye on why she doesn’t keep chips or cookies at home: ‘You can’t stop’

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Elon Musk's mother Maye on why she doesn’t keep chips or cookies at home: ‘You can’t stop’

Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to nutrition.

During a Thursday appearance on Fox Business’ “The Bottom Line,” Musk was asked about “Make America Healthy Again,” the wellness initiative from former President Donald J. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which focuses on choosing healthier foods.

The model and dietitian, 76, said she saw many diet-related health conditions while running her private practice for 40 years.

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“The main issues were obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes,” Musk said.

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“Once they started changing their diets, their blood values looked better — and it just decreases the expense of treating these patients.”

During a recent appearance on “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business Network, Maye Musk was asked about the wellness initiative, “Make America Healthy Again,” which focuses on choosing healthier foods. (Getty Images)

Musk emphasized the importance of communities working together for better health.

ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS MAKE UP 60% OF AMERICA’S DIET, WHO’S AT BIGGEST RISK

“We need to be able to teach people to eat better, and to have communities doing it together,” she said. 

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“Because it’s hard when you have a community that loves to eat a lot of food and then you have to try to pull yourself back.”

Maye and Elon Musk

Maye Musk and Elon Musk attend The 2022 Met Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

As a proud grandmother of 14 grandchildren, Musk said she takes measures to provide healthy foods and snacks.    

“You’ll never see chips and cookies in my home,” she said, joking that “as my grandkids say, ‘I’ve got no food.’”

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Musk also alluded to the addictive nature of unhealthy foods.

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Maye Musk modeling

Musk, a model and dietitian, said she takes measures to provide healthy foods and snacks for her grandchildren. (Getty Images)

“If you start on them, you can’t stop,” she said. 

“And so I’d rather not start with them.”

Instead of processed foods, Musk said she sticks with healthier choices like fruits, vegetables, yogurt, milk, cereal and whole-wheat bread.

  

Mus has previously credited her “flexitarian diet” for helping her look and feel her best.

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The style of eating has been described as one that prioritizes plant-based foods while consuming meat in moderation. It is considered more “flexible” than vegetarianism.

mayemusk

“To me, to keep the body healthy and skin glowing, you have to eat well,” Musk previously told Fox News Digital. (Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

“I eat very well,” Musk told Fox News Digital at the time.

“To me, to keep the body healthy and skin glowing, you have to eat well. That keeps me in good health.”

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health

Musk has also shared her commitment to a daily active lifestyle, relying on simple workouts that can be done at home, including yoga, weights and walking her dogs.

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Stephanie Nolasco of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.

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AgelessRX Prescribes GLP-1s With an Anti-Aging Focus

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AgelessRX Prescribes GLP-1s With an Anti-Aging Focus


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Melania Trump reveals how she stays calm, cool, focused and healthy: 'Guiding principle'

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Melania Trump reveals how she stays calm, cool, focused and healthy: 'Guiding principle'

Melania Trump, former first lady, is the author of the current New York Times No. 1 bestseller, “Melania.” 

The personal memoir gives readers a rare look inside her life, starting with the moment she set foot on American soil as a 26-year-old and on through the assassination attempt on her husband, former President Donald J. Trump, this past summer in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

With the eyes of the nation this week focused on the outcome of Election Day 2024, what’s clear in her book is how Melania Trump protects her own mental and psychological health no matter the events she’s navigating.

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Whether she’s enjoying personal success or dealing with political chaos, whether she’s celebrating family triumphs or weathering times of national turbulence, she figured out long ago how to stay calm, even-keeled and focused on what matters most, she reveals.

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“Life’s circumstances shape you in many ways, often entirely beyond your control — your birth, parental influences and the world in which you grow up,” she writes.

“Melania,” a personal memoir by Melania Trump, is a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. In her book, she shares that it’s essential “to be grounded in one’s own identity and values.” (Leon Neal/Getty Images; Amazon)

“As an adult, there comes a moment when you become solely responsible for the life you lead. You must take charge, embrace that responsibility, and become the architect of your own future.”

For her, she says, that moment was coming to America and New York City as a young woman full of “youthful confidence.”

Self-care is ‘essential’

That confidence, she indicates, had roots in her upbringing.

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“The value of self-care remains a guiding principle in my life.”

Her mother, Amalija Knavs, born in 1945, taught her that “self-care was essential not only to a person’s well-being, but also to being able to effectively care for others,” she writes.

Her mother “instilled this conviction in me from an early age, teaching me the importance of attending to one’s appearance before venturing into the world.”

"Melania" by Melania Trump book

“Melania” by Melania Trump is published by Skyhorse Publishing.  (Fox News Digital)

Trump says her mother often told her, “If I don’t take care of myself, how would I know how to care for others?”

“The value of self-care,” she says, “remains a guiding principle in my life.”

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‘Own unique journey’

Melania Trump says that even as a child, she embraced a sense of “organization and orderliness” — taking a “methodical approach” to whatever projects she was working on or involved with. 

GRATEFUL CHILDREN MAKE PARENTS HAPPIER AND LESS STRESSED, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS

Over time, she writes, “I learned that regardless of the circumstances or the company I found myself in, the most crucial relationship I could cultivate was the one I had with myself.” 

It’s essential, she shares, “to be grounded in one’s own identity and values. I embrace my individuality and confidently walk my own path.”

Melania Trump

Melania Trump on the set of “Fox & Friends” recently in New York City.  (Fox News)

This strength of character carried her through a time when she felt “targeted” for her appearance, she says, and was “perceived as being ‘too’ tall and ‘too’ skinny.”

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She acknowledges that it felt like bullying — though it wasn’t described that way decades ago.

Today, Trump writes, “I have come to understand that genuine happiness is not found in material possessions, but rather in the depths of self-awareness and self-acceptance.”

Other lessons in mental strength

Melania Trump shares a number of other affirmations and beliefs in her book.

10 TIPS TO LIVE TO BE 100: ‘FAR MORE THAN WISHFUL THINKING,’ SAY LONGEVITY EXPERTS 

“Sometimes, in order to succeed,” she writes, “you must be willing to take risks and make tough decisions.”

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She also says, “I value autonomy and believe in allowing people to live according to their wishes.”

Melania Trump

Melania Trump is shown arriving on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

She writes that “in any relationship, whether as a mother to my son, a wife to my husband or a stepmother, I firmly believe in the principle, ‘Don’t control, communicate!’”

She also writes, “We seem to be living in an age where much of our lives is presented for public consumption on social media.”

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However, the author adds, “some moments in life are meant to be private and do not need to be shared with the world.”

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“Each story shaped me into who I am today.”

She also says, “I have always believed it is critical for people to take care of themselves first … We are all entitled to maintain a gratifying and dignified existence.”

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health

Having already served a term as first lady, she notes that she’s aware that the role “transcends formal duties. [The] mission [of first lady] turns to fostering human connections, showing empathy and offering support for those in need.” 

Melania Trump

Melania Trump attends a meeting of the President’s Task Force on Protecting Native American Children in the Indian Health System in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 23, 2020, in Washington, DC.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Her time in the White House, she says, has shaped her perspective and reinforced her “dedication to serve others.”

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“Writing my memoir has been an amazing journey filled with emotional highs and lows,” Trump previously told Fox News Digital about her book. “Each story shaped me into who I am today.” 

She also told Fox News Digital that “although daunting at times, the process has been incredibly rewarding, reminding me of my strength and the beauty of sharing my truth.” 

Brooke Singman of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.

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