Plague still strikes Africa and the U.S. each year

The plague, a bacterial infection that killed tens of millions in 14th-century Europe, still causes cases today, with recent alarm raised in Russia after a Siberian research institute worker died of pneumonia. Most human cases since the 1990s have been reported in Africa, particularly Congo and Madagascar, while the U.S. averages about seven cases yearly, mostly in rural Western areas. The disease spreads via fleas from infected rodents. Russian authorities say testing showed no plague, though the institute was quarantined. Early antibiotic treatment cures the plague, but no vaccine is available in the U.S.