Story highlights Health officials say teen was hunting when infected by a flea

Plague is rare in Oregon, only eight cases diagnosed in last 20 years

(CNN) A teenage girl in Crook County, Oregon is in the ICU recovering from a case of bubonic plague, according to the Oregon Health Authority and the Crook County Public Health Department.

Health officials believe she contracted the bacteria from an infected flea during a hunting trip earlier this month in Morrow County, Oregon.

According to a press release , the young woman began feeling sick on October 21 and was hospitalized in Bend, Oregon on October 24.

Plague is rare in Oregon, with only eight human cases diagnosed since 1995 and no deaths, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

The plague usually occurs in rural and semi-rural areas of the western United States, most commonly in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.

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