On July 11, health officials in northern Arizona confirmed a fatal case of pneumonic plague, marking the first death from the disease in the state since 2007. The case occurred in Coconino County. Authorities did not release the identity of the individual, nor further details surrounding the case.
Pneumonic plague is an extremely rare disease in humans, with an average of about seven cases reported annually in the United States, mostly in western states, according to federal health authorities.
The Black Death remains the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history. A devastating sweep of bubonic plague, caused by the same bacterium responsible for pneumonic plague, struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s and is estimated to have killed some 200 million people. But where did this pernicious pestilence originate, how was it transmitted, and what were its consequences?
Click through to find out more about this deadly medieval killer.