"A 25-year-old New Mexico rancher was admitted to an El Paso Hospital on February 12 because of a two-day history of headache, chills, and fever (40°C). The day before admission, he began vomiting. The day of admission, an orange-sized swelling in the left axilla was noted. A lymph-node aspirate and a smear of peripheral blood were reported to contain gram-positive cocci, often in pairs. Under the assumption that a gram-positive organism had caused the patient's illness, he was given cefoxitin. The man was acutely ill. Within a few hours of admission, he had a cardiopulmonary arrest. During resuscitation efforts, he vomited and aspirated his vomitus; a chest X-ray showed bilateral infiltrate. Additionally, the patient bled from several body sites. The patient died within 6 hours of admission. In the 2 weeks prior to becoming ill, the patient had trapped, killed, and skinned 3 kit foxes, 4 coyotes, and 1 bobcat. The patient had cut his left hand shortly before skinning the bobcat on February 7.

After his death, biochemical testing of a gram-negative rod isolated from blood cultures identified the etiology as Enterobacter agglomerans.
Identify the following periods: incubation, prodromal, illness, decline?