Plague creates stir in East, worry about tourism in West

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- When a pair of tourists in New York fell ill with bubonic plague -- a naturally occurring though rare disease -- reaction in the East was swift and scared.

Fox News Channel ran an on-screen headline that blared "Black Death," while The New York Times ran a subhead on its story declaring: "A disease that ravaged medieval Europe reappears."

The national exposure worried New Mexico tourism officials, said Paul Ettestad, state public health veterinarian.

The state Health Department was flooded with calls from East Coast journalists -- more than 25 calls since the news broke Wednesday about the Santa Fe couple, who remained hospitalized Friday in New York.

The media "seemed really surprised that the plague actually existed," state Health Department spokesman Eddie Binder said.

"These are extremely rare events that are sporadic," Ettestad said. "We have never really had a case in tourists. It's these rural areas where people are outside among the animals.

"As long as you avoid rodents and don't go sticking your hand down their nests, you will be fine."

Since 53-year-old lawyer John Tull and his wife, 47-year-old financial services adviser Lucinda Marker, became ill, New Mexico Health Department officials have been in contact with New York health officials, doctors and with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An emergency room doctor from Beth Israel hospital in New York City called Ettestad and now doctors from the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque who "know the plague inside and out" are consulting with Beth Israel doctors, he said.

"I think once people take a look at what exactly it is, it has a tendency to calm their fears," Binder said.

Plague -- a bacterial illness transmitted by fleas and by contact with infected blood or tissue -- is active in about 15 states, mostly in the West.