Public health officials are investigating the death
of a University of Chicago researcher who studied plague bacteria and
was found to have the microbe in his blood, university officials said on
Monday.

Malcolm Casadaban, who died on September 13, was researching a weakened
strain of the plague bacteria Yersinia pestis. Because it is missing key
proteins, the strain is not normally harmful to people.

Medical center spokesman John Easton said Casadaban had the laboratory
strain of Yersinia pestis in his blood, suggesting he had a form of the
infection known as septicemic plague, which can kill even before the
symptoms begin.

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