How did my puppy get bubonic plague?
IT was the horrifying pandemic that tore through 14th-century Europe, killing 50million people with the most agonising of symptoms.
Now the disease responsible for the bubonic plague seems to have returned in the most unlikely of places – a puppy from Dundee.
Kimi Cowie-McCash has been told her fivemonth-old boxer Lily is harbouring Yersinia pestis, the bacteria blamed for the Black Death. The cells can spread to humans through fleas, causing the deadly plague which devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.
Miss Cowie-McCash, from Ballumbie, Dundee, said: ‘When the vet phoned, my first thought was that my puppy was going to die.
‘Then I thought I was going to be responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of people. It was a massive shock.’
Doctors say cases of the infection spreading to humans are rare. However, in May last year, a pit bull terrier was blamed for an outbreak of bubonic plague in Colorado in 2014.
The dog had been put down with a fever and spitting blood, and its owner later fell ill with what doctors first suspected to be pneumonia. Hospital tests later showed his condition had been caused by the deadly plague.
Three other people in the US state contracted the disease but all recovered after treatment.
Miss Cowie-McCash said the discovery of the disease was made as a result of a routine check-up. She added: ‘We had bought Lily and she was passing very loose stools so we took her to the vet.
‘The first tests came back last week and they said she had cryptosporidium – a condition that affects the gut and intestinal area.
‘Then we got a call to say the results had come back positive for Yersinia pestis.’
Now the 40-year-old therapist is warning other dog owners that their pets could face a similar diagnosis. She said: ‘The vet has said it is very rare but, hypothetically, my puppy could have picked it up in the city.
‘I want people to be aware that if their dog is exhibiting symptoms then they should have it tested.’
Lily is now on antibiotics for the disease and Miss Cowie-McCash faces an agonising wait to see if she recovers.
Further treatment is available but a vet fears the puppy is too young to cope with multiple treatments.
Miss Cowie-McCash said: ‘Lily isn’t going anywhere for a long time. That said, it is a very dangerous thing that she is carrying.’