Oregon man contracts bubonic plaugue

An Oregon man contracted the bubonic plague will survive and may be able to leave the hospital within a few weeks.

Paul Gaylord was saving his cat who was chocking on a rodent. The cat ended up biting his hand and scratching him.

At first doctors thought it was cat scratch fever. They prescribed him antibiotics and sent him home, according to Reuters.

His symptoms began to worsen and he was rushed to a local hospital who then transferred him to a larger hospital in Bend, Oregon.  He has spent almost a month on life support in intensive care.

He will lose his fingers and some toes but will survive.

“The doctors said he wasn’t going to make it,” his niece Andrea Gibb said, adding that her uncle is expected to lose all of his fingers, which have turned a black, and most of his toes. “He has had ups and downs, but he is very strong.”

According to ABC, Gaylord will not be able to return to work as a welder but is still positive.

Gaylord currently lives in a single-wide trailer that has a list of problems with it and could be an issue with his weak immune system. The family would like to raise money to build him a new house.

The bubonic plague, also known as The Black Death, killed 50 million Europeans centuries ago. Today there are only about 10 cases per year in the United States. Most of these cases are in the southwest, said Sue Straley, a professor at the University Of Kentucky College Of Medicine. She said it is very rare to have a care on the Northwest.

“In the Southwest, where it is more endemic, if you’re going out into the wild, particularly where there are rodents that are known to carry the plague, you ought to tuck your pants in your boots,” she said. “It’s important to take precautions against a flea bite.”