Health officials say Santa Fe County death could be plague

State health officials are conducting tests to see if a Santa Fe County woman died from the plague.

The New Mexico Department of Health said Friday the 52-year-old woman would be the first human case of plague in the state this year if tests come back positive.

Department staff is going door-to-door in the woman’s neighborhood to inform them about plague found in the area.

They say the woman had pneumonia. So, her health care providers and close contacts are taking preventive antibiotics.

Plague is a bacterial disease from rodents that is typically transmitted to people through bites from inflected fleas or direct contact with infected animals.

Symptoms in a human include sudden fever, chills, headache and weakness.

There were two human plague cases in New Mexico last year.