Disease that wiped out over a third of medieval Europe is back — in Colorado



The plague swept through medieval Europe, killing between 30% to 50% of the population — up to anestimated 200 million people. While the bacterium responsible, Yersinia pestis, is found in rodents, it can be transmitted to humans through the bite of infected fleas. Between humans, it can be spread through unprotected contact with an infected person's bodily fluids or through inhalation of respiratory droplets expelled by someone stricken with the pneumonic plague.

Outbreaks of Yersina pestis were responsible for numerous nightmarish epidemics — not only the Justinianic plague in the 5th-7th centuries and the 14th century Black Death, but also in modern times, largely in Asia and Africa. According to the World Health Organization, the three most endemic countries are Madagascar, Peru, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Public health officials in Pueblo County, Colorado, confirmed Tuesday that a resident was infected with the plague.

Officials did not disclose the identity of the infected person.

'If you develop symptoms of plague, see a health care provider immediately.'

The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment advised locals to:

  • eliminate places rodents can breed or hide, such as rock piles, brush, and trash;
  • avoid contact with dead animals;
  • use insect repellent to avoid flea bites;
  • treat pets for fleas;
  • keep pets away from rodent-infested areas, including prairie dog colonies; and
  • don't sleep with pets.

Alice Solis, program manager of the county's office of communicable disease and emergency preparedness, said, "If you develop symptoms of plague, see a health care provider immediately. Plague can be treated successfully with antibiotics, but an infected person must be treated promptly to avoid serious complications or death."

Infection is brutal and frequently lethal. Systemic infection caused by the bacteria in the bloodstream and lung-based forms have a case-fatality ratio ranging from 30% to 100% if not treated.

Symptoms vary depending on the variety of plague.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those infected with the bubonic plague — which is not spread person to person — develop swollen, tender lymph glands as well as fever, headache, and weakness.

Those with pneumonic plague, which is contagious and spread through the air, suffer chest pain, high fever and chills, a cough, difficulty breathing, and an upset stomach. If untreated, the disease can lead to lung failure, shock, and death inside 24 hours.

When plague bacteria multiply in the blood leaving a patient with septicemic plague, the patient is likely to suffer similar symptoms as well as profuse bleeding.

The U.S. does not presently have a plague vaccine available for use. However, streptomycin, gentamicin, the tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol are reportedly all effective against pneumonic plague.

Although infections are extremely rare, plague occurs naturally in areas of the western United Sates. For instance, it is endemic throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains and other parts of California, where it is often carried by squirrels and chipmunks.

Other once-eradicated or controlled diseases have made a comeback in recent years, in part as a result of unchecked illegal immigration.

Blaze News previously reported that cases of polio, tuberculosis, leprosy, and malaria have cropped up amid record influxes of illegal aliens as well as refugees and asylees — whom the CDC indicated are not required to meet vaccination requirements before entering the country.

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Veterinary drug transforming American city streets into zombie nightmares: 'Literally eats your flesh'



Drug addicts are reportedly experimenting with an especially destructive drug: the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine.

Xylazine, often called "tranq" or the "zombie drug," has profoundly devastating effects on human beings. Users who do not immediately die by overdose frequently see their skin rot, turn black, and slough off or their injection wounds become infected and compromise entire limbs.

This danger is compounded by the drug's increasing popularity in big American cities such as San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia.

Los Angeles, another hard-hit city, has witnessed the animal tranquilizer spread into the local street drug supply, prompting the LA County Sheriff's Department to begin actively testing confiscated drugs for traces of xylazine.

Zombie-maker

The zombie drug, usually purchased online from Chinese suppliers for $6-$20 per kilogram, is neither a controlled substance nor a new drug. It has been long marketed as a veterinary drug and used as a sedative.

According to a 2014 study published in the journal Forensic Science International, "In humans, it could cause central nervous system depression, respiratory depression, bradycardia, hypotension, and even death. There have been publications of 43 cases of xylazine intoxication in humans, in which 21 (49%) were non-fatal scenarios and 22 (51%) resulted in fatalities."

TheBlaze previously reported on a warning provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said, "Repeated exposure to xylazine, by injection, has been associated with severe, necrotic skin ulcerations that are distinctly different from other soft-tissue infections (e.g., cellulitis, abscesses) often associated with injection drug use. These ulcerations may develop in areas of the body away from the site of injection."

The drug is reportedly used frequently as an adulterant in recreational drugs — to enhance or mimic the effects of other illicit drugs, such as heroin or cocaine.

While dangerous on its own, used in combination with other drugs, xylazine can prove especially fatal.

For instance, a 2021 American study detected the drug in 42 Connecticut fatal overdoses from March to August 2019.

'Self-destruction at its finest'

KTLA reported that the recent rash of xylazine use has seen some users horribly disfigured. Some have been found covered in sores, requiring amputation. Others have had their skin fall off and inner workings exposed.

Tracey McCann, a user, told the New York Times earlier this year that the needle bruises she had from fentanyl were hardening and turning crusty. "I’d wake up in the morning crying because my arms were dying," said McCann.

Brooke Peder, a 38-year-old user in the city, lost her leg as the result of a zombie drug wound that became infected and ate into the bone. She bore her arm for the Times, revealing "patches of blackened tissue, exposed white tendons and pus, the sheared flesh was hot and red."

"The tranq dope literally eats your flesh," said Peder. "It's self-destruction at its finest."

"We had a woman come in and her sister had passed away from a fentanyl overdose," addiction expert Cary Quashen told KTLA. "But not only was it a fentanyl overdose (but) her skin was starting to rot, the muscles on her leg and her arm. So that’s a sure sign of xylazine."

DEA special agent Bill Bodner told KTLA, "It's really gruesomely disfiguring people. ... It’s much more likely to stop someone from breathing and the things that come along with xylazine, it’s a vasoconstrictor. So when you’re injecting it, it’s actually reducing the blood circulation."

The DEA released an intelligence report on the drug in October, detailing instances of exhibits involving the drug in the agency's laboratory system between 2020 and 2021. The report noted a 61% increase in the Northeast U.S. census region, a 193% increase in the South, a 7% increase in the Midwest, and a 112% increase in the West.

As xylazine-positive overdoses in the aforementioned U.S. census regions, the Northeast has seen a 103% increase; the South, a 1,127% increase; the Midwest, a 516% increase; and the West, a 750% increase.

Taking a closer look

As Los Angeles is one of the American cities hardest hit, the LA County Sheriff's Office has begun to track how common xylazine is, reported the New York Post.

This was not previously a priority, as the drug is not illegal.

Beginning in April, the LACSO's pilot program has had crime lab analysts noting preliminary signs of the tranquilizer when testing confiscated drugs.

"In the greater Los Angeles area, we are seeing xylazine as an additive within fake fentanyl pills," DEA Los Angeles Field Division spokeswoman Nicole Nishida told the Los Angeles Times. "While the numbers are relatively low in our community compared to elsewhere in the United States, the presence of xylazine is now becoming more frequent and the trend is concerning."

The Times indicated that federal data shows that roughly 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized in 2022 contained the tranquilizer.

If they determine by month's end that the number of xylazine positives is high, they will figure out standards for conducting additional confirmatory tests.

"This is going to be very unique for us, because I’m asking them to track a non-controlled substance," Capt. Ernest Bille, who oversees the department’s Scientific Services Bureau, told the Los Angeles Times.

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Rare monkeypox case identified in Massachusetts after European outbreak



The first U.S. case of monkeypox this year has been reported in Massachusetts after a small outbreak of the viral disease reported in several European countries.

A man who had recently traveled to Canada has been hospitalized with a viral infection at Massachusetts General Hospital. Testing completed Tuesday confirmed that the man was infected with monkeypox, a rare but potentially serious viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms and swelling of lymph nodes before progressing to a widespread rash on the face and body, the Massachusetts Department of Health said.

"DPH is working closely with the CDC, relevant local boards of health, and the patient’s health care providers to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient while he was infectious. This contact tracing approach is the most appropriate given the nature and transmission of the virus," the agency said. "The case poses no risk to the public, and the individual is hospitalized and in good condition."

Monkeypox is a disease that is native to parts of central and west Africa, where people may be exposed to the virus through bites or scratches from animals. The virus does not spread easily between people, but transmission can occur through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or through respiratory droplets following prolonged face-to-face contact, officials said.

This was the first monkeypox case to be identified in the U.S. in 2022. Two previous cases were reported last year in Texas and Maryland, in patients who had each traveled to Nigeria.

There have been nine reported cases of monkeypox in the United Kingdom, mostly identified in men who have sex with other men, according to U.K. health officials. A total of 68 cases have been reported in Europe, including in England, Spain, and Portugal, NPR reports.

"This [outbreak] is rare and unusual," said Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser for the U.K. Health Security Agency in a statement Monday.

"Exactly where and how they [the people] acquired their infections remains under urgent investigation," the agency said.

Officials in the U.K. are perplexed because the virus seems to be spreading among people who have not had contact with anyone who has traveled to Africa.

"What is even more bizarre is finding cases that appear to have acquired the infection via sexual contact," said UKHSA epidemiologist Mateo Prochazka in a tweet. "This is a novel route of transmission that will have implications for outbreak response and control."

'Are you trying to hide something?': Reporter presses Jen Psaki for the number of breakthrough COVID cases among White House staff



White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked to provide specific information about the number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases among White House staff during a news conference.

In this clip, Pat Gray and Jeff Fisher reacted to the moment when a reporter asked Psaki if the Biden administration won't release the number of breakthrough cases among vaccinated staffers.

"Are you trying to hide something?" the reporter asked.

Psaki told the reporter she was not hiding anything and asked the reporter why she needed to have that information.

Pat was shocked by Psaki's "bizarre" question and noted that reporters need that information because they are reporters.

Watch the clip to hear what else Pat had to say. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.


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Horowitz: Politicians plan to control our lives with masks and restrictions … for the flu



If the World Health Organization had been correct about a 3.4% infection fatality rate for COVID-19, there would have been one small, ancillary benefit: At the very least, a once-in-a-millennium virus with a kill rate 34 times greater than the flu would be unmistakable and could never be compared to other viruses. As such, it would be hard to convince the public to go along with draconian measures for common viruses such as influenza that have been with us for decades. Sadly, now that it turns out the true infection fatality rate is pretty similar to a bad flu season, politicians can now seamlessly bring their social conditioning mandates into flu season. In other words, forever.

When lockdown opponents compared the virus to a bad flu, they were suggesting that our societal disruption in response to SARS-CoV-2 should not be that much different from our efforts during a pandemic flu season. Insidious control freaks in elected and unelected high office, however, are now using this comparison they once rejected as the pretext for treating the flu the way they wrongly treated this virus.

Here is a sampling of politicians now comparing COVID-19 to the flu or conflating it with the flu, warning that the flu is indeed enough excuse to mandate these draconian measures. They are suddenly discovering the fact that hospitals do indeed get busy every year, but we go about our lives normally. They want that to change.

As flu season nears, California is preparing for a "twindemic" and a notable spike in demand for influenza and COVI… https://t.co/W5QQRi989b
— ABC30 Fresno (@ABC30 Fresno)1598480420.0
Influenza season is here. We take this seriously every year but with health resources focused on #COVID19, preventi… https://t.co/EIUIQDrJwu
— Doug Ducey (@Doug Ducey)1598911865.0
The @CDCgov recommends getting a flu shot by October. Not only will it protect you from the flu, it also will kee… https://t.co/jtHFLhhSim
— Governor Tom Wolf (@Governor Tom Wolf)1598990400.0

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer boldly asserted and predicted that "when we all get our flu vaccine, we can help keep thousands of flu patients out of the hospitals and prevent overcrowding."

But wait a minute: If the threat level from this virus is so much greater than the flu and the risk of hospitalization and death is unparalleled in human history, how can this be conflated with and compared to the flu in any way? It would be akin, at least according to their original assessment of the threat from coronavirus, to telling a cancer patient not to scrape their shin, so they don't create the perfect "twin" medical crisis.

In reality, when they desire to continue the social control, then the truth about the similarity of the virus' severity to that of a pandemic flu comes to the forefront. In order to suck us into the indefinite vortex of social control, they had to advertise this virus as exponentially more dangerous than the flu. Now that hospitalizations are way down, they need to lower the threshold required to trigger such control.

Even Republican governors are now trying to suggest that the flu is reason enough to continue the suspension of democracy and that these voodoo measures could somehow limit the spread of colds and flus. Already last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has become indistinguishable from his Democratic counterparts in his approach to this virus and constitutional rights, spoke of a need to "develop proactive strategies that will reduce the spread of the flu in the midst of the #COVID19 pandemic."

What might those measures be?

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) warned last week that "flu can be deadly on its own" and that he is "concerned that Ohioans who get both the flu and #COVID19 at the same time could become severely, if not fatally, ill."

Hence, the politicians are finally discovering what the media never cared about until now — that hospitals are indeed very busy during the height of flu seasons and are often forced into emergency surge capacity during particularly busy flu seasons. Yet we never destroyed our society, economy, and mental health over it. We never shut schools or abused children with masks and plexiglass boxes, even though they typically get sicker from the flu than from coronavirus and are more prolific vectors of the spread of flu.

For example, on Jan. 11, 2018, the Houston Chronicle reported about "strains" on local hospitals — with 13% of ER visits at 40 Houston-area hospitals being flu patients. Children 4 and under accounted for 42% of them! Can you imagine what sort of panic that would induce today? Contrast that to COVID-19 when, last week, just 1.8% of all ER visits were of patients with "covid19-like-illness," according to the CDC. The highest level it hit nationwide was 6.8%, although some places were higher. Yet in 2018, most Americans didn't even know the flu pandemic existed. Now, life as we know it no longer exists, for such a low threshold of risk.

Take Pamunkey Regional Jail in Tennessee, for example. Roughly 70% of the 178 inmates tested positive. Yet according to the Tennessee Star, "There have been no hospitalizations or deaths and the 'vast majority' of positive staff and inmates were asymptomatic or were showing mild symptoms." This is a microcosm of what is going on throughout the country — with inordinate panic being directed toward discovery of cases that rarely lead to clinical illness. In most cases, this is actually more like a cold than a flu.

In other words, this is not only going to continue through 2021, as Dr. Fauci warns, but forever. As my friend Kyle Lamb of RationalGround.com notes, mathematically, the current risk level of COVID-19 is much lower than the severity of the flu. Thus, if this is the new trigger for children wearing masks and draconian restrictions on school or businesses functions and church services, we will continue this charade in perpetuity.

"The total current number of hospitalizations in the entire U.S. with a positive Covid-19 result (not necessarily from) is about ~9 per 100,000. At the peak of this 2019-20 flu season, a light one relatively, there would have been ~30-45 CONFIRMED people hospitalized per 100,000," wrote the data guru on Twitter.

So, in other words, we are 3-4 times below the level of flu hospitalizations at the peak of a mild flu season, not to mention the more severe 2018 season that most Americans never heard of. But as Lamb observes, the numbers for COVID are really much lower. Nearly every pregnant woman or car crash victim who comes to the hospital is tested for COVID. Anyone who then tests positive, regardless of the symptoms and regardless of why he initially came to the hospital, is counted as a COVID hospitalization. With the flu, typically you are only tested if you are complaining of severe flu symptoms. Imagine if we counted the flu the way we count COVID-19.

The CDC estimates 39 to 56 million flu infections this year but 1.5 million tests were administered.… https://t.co/ng1sArhTgz
— Kyle Lamb (@Kyle Lamb)1600103728.0

Thus, every single year, hospitals are full of people who came for the purpose of flu treatment at an exponentially higher level than current levels for COVID-19. So if this is reason enough to mummify all our faces in public with cheap Chinese masks and treat our children like lepers in school, when and what is the exit strategy?

But alas, there is no exit strategy for the politicians. The social control is not a means to the end of controlling an epidemic. It is the end itself.

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