Bubonic plague: Colorado girl contracts the Black Death during camping trip

A seven-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after contracting the bubonic plague during a family camping trip in southwest Colorado.

Sierra Jane Downing became sick a few days after the outing in Pagosa Springs.

Her parents Darcy and Sean thought she had the flu until she started having seizures, the Associated Press reported.

They rushed her to hospital where doctors eventually diagnosed the bubonic plague – the first confirmed case of the deadly disease in Colorado since 2006.

"I didn't know what was going on. I just reacted," Sean Downing was quoted by the AP as saying.

"I thought she died."

CBS Denver reported that Downing was moved out of the intensive care unit on Monday.

"I had never seen it," Jennifer Snow, one of the treating doctors, was quoted as saying.

"You learn about it in medical school during microbiology, but I had never seen a case of it before.

“If she would have stayed at home she could have easily died within 24 to 48 hours."

Doctors believe Downing contracted the Black Death from infected fleas near a dead squirrel, 9 News reported.

The bubonic plague wiped out nearly one-third of Europe during the 14th century, but is now easily treated with antibiotics.

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