Colorado teen Taylor Gaes dead after contracting the plague

A teenager has died after contracting the plague.

Taylor Gaes, who was in ‘superb health’ before contracting the disease, died days of he started suffering flu-like symptoms.

The 16-year-old, from Colorado, was a talented sportsman, playing for the varsity baseball team and American football team.

His death has been attributed to septicemic plague, which is a fast moving bacterial infection.

Experts believe a flea bite, or contact with a dead animal, could have caused it.

On average, seven people contract the illness in the United States each year.

Taylor was a talented sportsman (Pic: AP/Facebook)

After his ashes were scattered on the family’s ranch, Katie O’Donnell, a Larimer County Health Department, released a waing to people who attended,

She said: ‘They had this big ceremony that a few hundred people attended. They would hate to see people get sick from it. There’s a very slim chance that anyone would.’

Mouers embrace during a vigil for Taylor Gaes (Pic: AP)

Mr Gaes did not have swollen lymph nodes, which is a normal sympton of plague.

Instead he suffered from muscle aches and pains, meaning authorities did not know how ill he was.