Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) said in a statement that an unidentified Marquette, Michigan, resident has contracted bubonic plague. It is the first time that a Michigan resident has contracted the bubonic plague.

The patient has recently travelled to an area of Colorado in which the plague was earlier been reported. An unidentified person died from the plague in Pueblo County, Colorado in early August and the case was the first in the county since 2004.

The Pueblo City-County Health Department said that it was believed that the person contracted the plague from fleas on a dead animal as a dead prairie dog in Turkey Creek in Pueblo County was tested positive for the plague.

According to MDHHS, in 2015, 13 others have contracted the disease across the US, and four among them died. On average, there are three human cases of bubonic plague per year in the country.

Last year, there were ten cases and no deaths, and in 2012 and 2013, four cases were reported. In 2006, there were 17 cases but only two deaths. The year 2006 was the only year since 2000, which had more cases of bubonic than 2015. MDHHS said in the statement that the reason for the recent increase in plague is not clear so far.

In the years between 1900 and 2012, there were 1006 confirmed and likely cases of plague in the United States. More than 80% of them were bubonic.