The first pneumonic plague death in Arizona's Coconino County in almost two decades highlights the rare but deadly respiratory disease transmitted mainly by infected fleas.

The patient was recently treated at an emergency department in Flagstaff and died the same day, Northern Arizona Healthcare said.

A resident of Arizona has died from pneumonic plague, health officials confirmed on Friday. This was the first recorded death from the disease in the county since 2007, Coconino County Health and Human Services reported. In that case, a person had an interaction with a dead animal infected with the disease.