Californian resident catches the plague while on camping trip
A resident in Lake Tahoe has tested positive for the plague, health officials in California have confirmed.
The resident is believed to have been bitten by a flea while on a camping trip in South Lake Tahoe, which is how the diagnosis occurred. Medical professionals are currently caring for the individual at their home.
Kyle Fliflet, El Dorado County’s acting director of public health, said, “Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher elevation areas of El Dorado County.”
Fliflet continued: “It’s important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking and or camping in areas where wild rodents are present.”
While it is worrying that a Lake Tahoe resident has tested positive for the medieval illness, the plague is not as rare as we’d all like to assume. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there’s an average of seven cases of human plague per year in the United States alone.
According to the World Health Organisation, the human plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria which is usually found in small mammals and their fleas.
Africa is the most common part of the world for cases of the human plague; however, it can also be found in South America. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Peru are the three most endemic countries.
Only last month, a person tested positive in Coconino County, Northern Arizona, and died less than 24 hours after the diagnosis. This death marked the first plague-related death in the region since 2007.
Globally, there are around 1,000 to 2,000 cases of plague each year, which combines all three forms of the disease, bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. Typically, these only occur in extremely rural areas of the world rather than in cities or built-up districts.