Man bitten on the hand trying to rescue mouse from cat

An Oregon man is at death's door in a hospital battling a rare case of the infamous "Black Death" plague, health officials said.

The unidentified man, who is in his 50s, was bitten on the hand while trying to pull a mouse away from a stray cat on June 2 and got sick several days later, doctors at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend told The Oregonian newspaper.

The man was thought to be suffering from septicemic plague - meaning the ruthless bacteria was spreading in his bloodstream - and was in critical condition, doctors said.

Famously known as "Black Death," the disease killed around 75 million people - around a third of the population - when it swept through Europe in the 14th century.

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