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

Health officials in Arizona have confirmed the death of a resident from the pneumonic plague - but they've not linked the death to a recent prairie die-off in an adjacent town.

Arizona: A resident of north Arizona died from pneumonic plague, marking the first death in the region in 18 years. The last death was reported in 2007, when an individual had contact with a dead animal infected with the disease,