‘EXTREMELY RARE’

Californian Hiker Gets Infected With Plague After Suspected Flea Bite

Health officials confirmed the unusual case near South Lake Tahoe.

It’s a disease more usually associated with the densely-packed cities of Europe in the middle ages, but health officials have confirmed a case of plague at South Lake Tahoe—the first in California in five years. The infected person is reportedly recovering at home. “Human cases of plague are extremely rare but can be very serious,” El Dorado County Public Health Officer Dr. Nancy Williams said, according to CNN. Health officials believe the South Lake Tahoe resident may have been bitten by an infected flea while walking a dog along on Tahoe’s south shore. The last reported human cases of plague in California were in 2015 when two people were exposed to infected rodents or their fleas in Yosemite National Park. Both recovered. Plague can successfully be treated with antibiotics, and, according to the CDC, treatment has lowered mortality rates to approximately 11 percent, with antibiotics working best if given within 24 hours of the first symptoms.