The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized but has been discharged, state officials say.
New Mexico health officials said they have confirmed the first human case of the plague in the state in 2025, occurring in a 43-year-old male from Valencia County who recently went camping.
The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized but has since been discharged, according to a statement issued by the New Mexico Department of Health on Aug. 25. Officials stated that he had camped in Rio Arriba County, where he may have been exposed to the bacteria.
“This case reminds us of the severe threat that can be posed by this ancient disease,” Erin Phipps, public health veterinarian for the state health agency, said in the statement.
“It also emphasizes the need for heightened community awareness and for taking measures to prevent further spread.”
Often called the black plague, the illness is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis and has led to multiple pandemics throughout human history. It is primarily transmitted through the bites of fleas originating from animals such as squirrels, rats, mice, and other rodents, or it is transmitted through the handling of a dead animal that was infected with the bacteria.
Further details of the New Mexico case were not provided by officials, only that it was the first case reported in the state this year. The last human plague case confirmed in the state was a Lincoln County resident in 2024, officials said.
However, it’s not the first time the bacterial infection has been reported in the United States this year. Last month, an Arizona resident died from pneumonic plague—a type of plague that spreads to the lungs and can be transmitted from person to person—officials said.
The death in Arizona’s Coconino County, which includes Flagstaff, was the first recorded death from pneumonic plague since 2007, local officials said. Further details, including the identity of the victim, were not released at the time.
The bubonic plague is the most common form of the bacterial infection, which spreads naturally among rodents, health officials said. There are two other forms: septicemic plague, which spreads through the whole body, and pneumonic plague.
Most U.S. cases occur in rural areas of northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, California, southern Oregon, and far western Nevada, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
