Wildlife Biologist Dies From Possible Plague

7 year old Eric York, is believed to have died from the plague contracted while performing a necropsy on a mountain lion who tested positive for the disease. He was found dead at his home on Nov. 2, and had taken time off due to feeling sick.

Those people who have come in close contact with York have been given preventative antibiotics and none have reported feeling sick.

Symptoms of pneumonic plague include: high fever, chills, nausea, chest pain, cough, headache, and blood in the saliva.

The disease is primarily a disease of animals, but humans can contract it if they are bitten by rodent fleas.

The cougar, which had died from the plague, was believed to have remained in back-country areas where park visitors wouldn't normally go, officials said.

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