article_snippet.sent: The plague, which famously killed millions of Europeans during the Black Death, is most commonly carried by fleas and rodents.
article_snippet.sent: The plague, which killed millions of Europeans in the 1300s, causes pustules on the skin and is still contracted by 2,000 people a year (file photo)
article_snippet.sent: The Southwestern US is similar to the plains of Central Asia where Plague began, Professor David Wagner of Northern Arizona University told the Arizona Daily Sun.
article_snippet.sent: Plague is still contracted by as many as 2,000 people a year, according to the World Health Organization, though the vast majority of cases are in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.
article_snippet.sent: The vast majority of human plague cases reported in The Southwestern US are in the arid climate of the Southwest, which scientists say is similar to Disease's homeland of Central Asia .
article_snippet.sent: Modern medications are effective in fighting Plague, also known by its bacterial name Yersinia pestis,  though it can be deadly if left untreated.
article_snippet.sent: The last plague epidemic in the United States was in Los Angeles between 1924 and 1925, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
article_snippet.sent: Plague originally came to North America via rodents on steamships from Asia.
article_snippet.sent: The bacteria Yersinia pestis originally came to North America on steamship rodents from Asia, and the last outbreak was in Los Angeles in 1924 .