BEND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon health officials have confirmed that a man who tried to save a mouse from the mouth of a stray cat has the plague.
State public health veterinarian Dr. Emilio De Bess says the man was infected when he was bitten by either the stray his family had befriended and named Charlie, or the mouse.
The body of the feline is being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.
The unidentified man, who is in his 50s, remains in critical condition at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend.
His illness marks the fifth case of plague in Oregon since 1995.
More than a dozen people who were in contact with the sick man have been notified and are receiving preventive antibiotics.
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