A squirrel tested positive for bubonic plague in Morrison, CO just west of Denver yesterday, and the media has lost its mind. Meanwhile, there is a very real and very serious pandemic ravaging the country as Covid19 causes California to roll back reopening and prompts a national debate on in-person education come the fall.
To get up to speed on one of the “OG Pandemics” of the world, Jefferson County Health officials stated, “Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can be contracted by humans and household animals if proper precautions are not taken.”
“Arguably the most infamous plague outbreak was the so-called Black Death, a multi-century pandemic that swept through Asia and Europe,” according to National Geographic. “It was believed to start in China in 1334, spreading along trade routes and reaching Europe via Sicilian ports in the late 1340s. The plague killed an estimated 25 million people, almost a third of the continent’s population. The Black Death lingered on for centuries, particularly in cities. Outbreaks included the Great Plague of London (1665-66), in which 70,000 residents died.”
It’s possible for humans to get the plague through bites from fleas that have been infected, or other various means of direct contact with infected animals.
But keep in mind:
Every single year, some prairie creature tests positive for the plague. Usually not when there is a global pandemic happening, and therefore the Google results are askew with Karens across the land, sharing stories of “plague squirrels”. Remember the Murder Hornets?
This might come as news to you, but 140,000 people have died from COVID19, the world’s newest pandemic. Plague is easy to treat compared to COVID19— just get some antibiotics in your system within 24 hours of experiencing symptoms, and you’re good to go. The CDC says that there is now only an average of seven human plague cases per year and the WHO says the mortality rate is estimated to be between 8-10%.
Here are some of the topics we should be sharing, posting, and talking about more before we talk about Plague Squirrels:
Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Restorative Justice for BIPOC, Re-opening Schools, COVID19, The CARES Act/Expanding Unemployment Benefits, The Impending Housing Crisis, and WEARING A GOD DAMN MASK just to name a few.