Arizona biologist dies of plague contracted from mountain lion
Biologist contracted disease from a mountain lion he was treating at an Arizona national park; about 13 people in the U.S. die every year of the plague, which may be naturally contracted
A biologist in Arizona has died of the plague after conducting an autopsy on a mountain lion. Grand Canyon National Park has confirmed that Eric York likely contracted the disease in the course of his work on a lion tagging program. “Eric did not play it safe…. He put his love for this earth and its creatures ahead of his own safety,” Margaret Payne, a family friend and bishop of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told mourners at his funeral.
Human cases of the plague are relatively rare in the United States, with about thirteen cases a year. “His job brought him in very close proximity with wildlife. The general public would not be exposed in the same way that he would be, although we have been trying to emphasize that this is an area in northern Arizona that we know has plague,” said Matt Walburger, a consultant for the U.S. Public Health Service. Those who came into contact with York have been given antibiotics, although the last recorded case of human-to-human plague transmission was in 1924. The national park has announced new precautions visitors should take.
