Taylor Gaes was a talented baseball player
According to health officials, a 16-year-old high school baseball star from Colorado died from a rare type of plague, known as septicemic plague
The teenager, Taylor Gaes from Livermore, contracted the rare disease after being bitten by fleas that previously fed on dead rodents or other animals.
The boy, who had previously been in good health, died suddenly on June 8, a day after his birthday.
At first, doctors could not confirm what had killed the boy. Further analysis was needed in order to determine the cause of death of the 16 year old boy.
According to the medical experts, septicemic plague is the rarest form of plague that is transmitted through direct blood contact.
The doctors said that this type of plague is extremely dangerous, and is often fatal.
Federal health officials urged the boy’s family members to immediately seek medical attention should they develop any symptoms, such as fever.
According to the boy’s family, he experienced symptoms like high fever and muscle ache prior to his death.
At the time, the boy’s parents assumed he had a bad case of flu.
A few days after he experienced the first symptoms, the boy woke his parents because he was coughing blood.
His parents drove him to the hospital but the boy stopped breathing on the way there.
They called an ambulance but the boy died a few minutes later.
Taylor Gaes’s colleagues from Fort Collins’ Poudre High School are mourning the death of their friend, who was a popular athlete who excelled baseball and football.
Ethan Conyers, one of Gaes’s friends, said the boy was very kind, courageous and had a warm heart.
According to the health officials, this is the first case of plague in the Larimer County since 1999.
Reports suggest that approximately seven people contract the plague in the United States every year.
Most of them live in the rural areas of the southwest.
The experts say there are three types of plague. The bubonic plague is the most common type and it occurs when the patient is bitten by a flea and the disease travels through the lymph nodes.
If it’s diagnosed immediately, it can be treated successfully.
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