Investigation into Death of University of Chicago Plague Researcher

Public health officials are investigating the death<br />of a University of Chicago researcher who studied plague bacteria and<br />was found to have the microbe in his blood, university officials said on<br />Monday.<br /><br />Malcolm Casadaban, who died on September 13, was researching a weakened<br />strain of the plague bacteria Yersinia pestis. Because it is missing key<br />proteins, the strain is not normally harmful to people.<br /><br />Medical center spokesman John Easton said Casadaban had the laboratory<br />strain of Yersinia pestis in his blood, suggesting he had a form of the<br />infection known as septicemic plague, which can kill even before the<br />symptoms begin.<br /><br />Yahoo! Canada News /ca.news.yahoo.com><br /><br />or<br /><br />http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN2131221220090921