FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A resident of northern Arizona has died of pneumonic plague, health officials said Friday. Plague is rare to humans, with on average of about seven cases reported annually in the U.S., most of them in the western states, according to federal health officials.

An Arizona resident has died from the plague as officials were probing whether a prairie dog die-off in the area was also tied to the lethal illness.

A person in northern Arizona died from bubonic (pneumonic) plague, marking Coconino County's first death from the disease since 2007.