Question

microbiology

The following is an article about a young man who died of plague in 2015. Based on the information provided, you can correctly determine that this very unfortunate death was due to DENVER (AP/CBS4) - When a Larimer County teen came down with a high fever and muscle aches, his family thought he had the flu. But he was dead within days and the rare cause was only revealed later. Taylor Gaes had been infected with the plague, likely by fleas that put the bacteria directly into his blood stream, making it difficult to spot in time to stop its spread. The 16-year-old died June 8, but the cause was only made public late Friday when health officials, at the urging of the boy's parents, put out a warning to make sure others who may have visited his family's rural home near Fort Collins hadn't been sickened by the fleas that could have infected him. bubonic plague primary pneumonic plague septicemic plague secondary pneumonic plague

Answer 1

The correct answer is: Option number 4 i.e., Secondary pneumonic plague

Explanation- The basic things to point out in this question are symptoms of the disease and the vector that has transmitted bacteria. The patient had muscle ache, high fever and flu-like symptoms. The flu like symptoms are only developed in pneumonic plague (because it affects the respiratory system). Bubonic plague affects the lymphatic system (lymph nodes) while septicemic plague affects the blood. So bubonic and septicemic can not be the correct answer.

Now, we have two options containing pneumonic plague: primary pneumonic plague and secondary pneumonic plague. But there is difference between the two in mode of transmission of bacteria. Primary pneumonic plague is usually caused by inhalation of infective droplets/aerosols that contains bacteria. While Secondary pneumonic plague is due to bite of flea. So the only correct answer is Secondary pneumonic plague.

Hope you got your answer with proper understanding.

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