Officials: Child camping in Yosemite National Park contracts plague

Marc Cugnon and Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

A child is recovering in the hospital after falling ill with the plague while camping in Yosemite National Park in California officials said Thursday.

In mid-July, the child was camping with family at Yosemite's Crane Flat Campground and also visited areas of the Stanislaus National Forest, according to the California Department of Public Health. Officials said the child contracted the plague sometime during the trip, but none of the other family members were infected.

In Colorado, two people have died from the plague this year, AP reported.

Most recently, an unidentified person from Pueblo County, Colo., died from the plague on Tuesday.

The Colorado resident was an adult who is thought to have contracted the plague from exposure to rodents, fleas or dead animals, according to a report published by the Pueblo City-County Health Department.

The plague is normally spread through concentrated rodent populations. Rodents like rats and mice are known carriers of the fleas that cause the plague itself.

Plague incidences are many times preceded by mass animal die-offs, the Pueblo Country Health Department reports.

Health experts advise individuals to avoid dead animals, to treat clothing with insect repellent when hiking, to prevent pets from roaming and to avoid sharing a bed with pets. Plague victims normally exhibit symptoms, which include swollen lymph nodes, fever and chills, within a two- to six-day period.

"The key to treating the plague is catching it in time," said Sarah Joseph, public information officer for the Pueblo City-County Health Department. "Patients have to get treatment in a timely manner, and physicians have to identify it in time."

On average seven human plague cases are reported in the U.S. per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.