--
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said late Friday morning, June 8, that 20 people are now being examined by health officials for exposure to the plague -- including 16 Bernalillo county sheriff's deputies and four firefighters.
White said the deputies and firefighters may have been exposed when they were called to a home in Tijeras on May 28. The 3-year old child in the home was having trouble breathing. The child later died of bubonic plague, Action 7 News reported.
The sheriff said conditions at the home were unacceptable, with feces and debris littering the home.
Eight members of the child's family were held overnight in isolation at the University of New Mexico Hospital but were released on Friday morning.
The boy lived in the east mountain area of Bernalillo County, where officials said plague activity is high.
The Albuquerque Environmental Health Department and the Department of Health will conduct an investigation at the Bernalillo County boy's residence to determine any ongoing risk for plague exposure.
The Environmental Department is expected at the family's home today to see if the risk for exposure to the plague still exists.
This is the third case of plague confirmed in New Mexico this year.
The first case occurred in late April in a man from San Juan County who recovered, and the second case was in a woman from Torrance County who is still hospitalized, according to a New Mexico Department of Health statement.
