That’s right, New Mexico. There’s Bubonic Plague deaths in New Mexico. Ready for that fenc… never mind.

From CNSNews:

Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico health officials say an 8-year-old boy has died after contracting bubonic plague and his 10-year-old sister, who also contracted the illness, is hospitalized and recovering.

The state Health Department announced the boy’s death Thursday, saying the siblings’ cases are the first human plague cases in the nation so far this year.

Health officials are conducting an environmental investigation at the family’s Santa Fe County residence to determine if there is any ongoing risk to people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says an average of 10 to 15 persons contract the plague each year in the United States. Modern antibiotics are an effective treatment.

So don’t worry, we average ten to fifteen Bubonic Plague deaths a year.

But we’re not becoming a third world country.

A plane leaving Bush airport may have been fired on by a rocket or missile early Friday night in an incident that is still under investigation.

From the Chron:

Liberty County Sheriff’s officials are expected to meet with the FAA on Tuesday to discuss what a Continental Express pilot reported as a “missile or rocket” flying near his airplane.

A pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that at about 8:15 p.m. Friday, an object passed within 150 feet beneath the aircraft, sheriff’s officials said.

The aircraft was near the southern edge of the county, flying at about 13,000 feet, officials said.

“The pilot, from what we understand, was former military. He was able to get the coordinates down real quick,” said Cpl. Hugh Bishop with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s deputies searched Friday night for signs of evidence where a missile might have been launched or landed.

“We couldn’t find anything,” Bishop said.

That could be because the object was a homemade munition recovered after firing.  Weapons like this don’t leave much debris at all:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJiAx4pi0sE[/youtube]

Youtube and various Internet forums are full of instructions on weaponizing model rockets with homemade explosives so investigators may not find the kind of military missile wreckage they are looking for.

Via N.T.A. there is a longer ABC piece that includes a video report where authorities claim it was “bigger than a model rocket” but hobby rocketeers have been known to build some exceptionally powerful rockets in their workshops so ruling out a homemade munition is unwise. There is a black market for anti-Aircraft missiles, but if this was an attack on the jetliner with one we just got very lucky. The fact that the rocket missed the plane and did no damage seems to indicate that this may have been someone making something homemade who didn’t know that a model rocket isn’t a good ground to air weapon.

Hopefully the person will be caught before they realize that a more effective ground to ground munition can be made from the same materials.