Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague in New Mexico

Officials in New Mexico confirmed that a resident died from the plague in the United States’ first fatal case in several years.

A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Getty Images

Officials in New Mexico confirmed that a resident died from the plague in the United States’ first fatal case in several years.

The New Mexico Department of Health, in a statement, said that a man in Lincoln County “succumbed to the plague.” The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized before his death, officials said.