US man hospitalized with likely case of 'Black Death'

An Oregon man is in critical condition, infected with what hospital staffers believe is the plague -- yes, THAT plague -- after being bitten while pulling a mouse away from a stray cat. Lab tests haven't determined whether the man definitively has the bubonic plague, the "Black Death" of the Middle Ages, although he's displaying signature symptoms. The CDC reports that 10 to 20 Americans contract the disease every year, typically in rural settings; one in seven of those cases are fatal. Although there's a plague vaccine, it's no longer available in the United States. Here's one preventive measure: "Taking a mouse out of a cat's mouth is probably not a good idea," Oregon's public health veterinarian said.