CALIFORNIA CHIPMUNKS CONTRACT THE PLAGUE
Chipmunks in the South Lake Tahoe area in California have tested positive for plague. Officials announced Kiva Beach and the Taylor Creek Visitor Center in South Lake Tahoe closed following the positive plague tests. It’s believed that the infected chipmunks had no known contact with people.
The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, is naturally present in some parts of California, including in El Dorado County where South Lake Tahoe is located. Last year, a resident of South Lake Tahoe tested positive for plague, marking the first case in the state in five years.
Plague is best known for causing the Black Death in Europe in the 1300s. Infections still occur in modern times, although human cases are relatively rare and usually treatable with common antibiotics. In the US, about seven cases of plague occur each year on average. Most plague cases occur in northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, California, southern Oregon and far-western Nevada. Worldwide, most human cases since the 1990s have occurred in Africa. The disease is spread by rodents, including squirrels, rats and chipmunks, and their fleas. Humans can catch the plague through flea bites or contact with the tissues or bodily fluids of an infected animal.