Plague infects Oregon man who tried to get rodent from stray cat

 This article speaks of a careless attitude when dealing with a feral cat and its 'catch'.  Of course, the cat is going to fight to keep his meal.  The cat probably survived by eating rodents heretofore.  Why change a winning formula?

The fact that the mouse was infected with plague germs is a real wild card judging by the number of cases in all of America being about 7 per year.

Plague infects Oregon man who tried to get rodent from stray cat | Local News | The Seattle Times

PORTLAND — Health officials have confirmed an Oregon man has the plague after he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat.

The plague bacteria cycles through rodent populations without killing them off; in urban areas, it's transmitted back and forth from rats to fleas. There's even a name for it, the "enzootic cycle."

The bacteria thrive in forests, semiarid areas and grasslands, which plague-carrying rodents from wood rats to rock squirrels call home.
 
The victim is suffering from a blood-borne version of the disease, not the bubonic plague, which wiped out at least one-third of Europe in the 14th century. The bubonic plague affects the lymph nodes.

There is an average of seven human plague cases in the U.S. each year. A map maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows most cases since the 1970s have been in the West, primarily the southwest.