Instead, he says those cases are more likely to be caused by a secondary bacterial infection that got into a bite wound.

Nor must you swat it with a rolled-up newspaper, as this may cause the arachnid to vomit into the bite wound.

Yersinia pestis blocks the gut of the flea, which means that it keeps on feeding, vomiting plague-infected blood into the bite wound.

The 34-year-old officer required hospital treatment for a bite wound.

The trypomastigotes enter the human host through the bite wound or by crossing mucous membranes.