Person tests positive in US for ‘black death’ plague that kil.led tens of millions

A South Lake Tahoe resident in California has tested positive for plague, just weeks after an Arizona resident died from the disease in July. Health officials confirmed the patient is recovering at home while receiving medical care.

Authorities believe the person was infected after being bitten by a flea while camping in the area. An investigation is underway, and warnings have been issued urging people to stay cautious. No further details about the patient’s condition were released.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that plague is now extremely rare, with the U.S. seeing around seven cases each year. South Lake Tahoe last reported a case in 2020, and in 2015 two Yosemite visitors also tested positive.

Known historically as the “Black Death,” plague once wiped out nearly half of Europe’s population in the 14th century. Today, antibiotics make it treatable, but the disease still exists in some regions of the U.S.

Bubonic plague, the most common form, is typically caused by flea bites and presents with fever, chills, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, and weakness within two to eight days. Pneumonic plague is rarer and more dangerous, spreading to the lungs if left untreated.

El Dorado County officials stressed that plague is naturally present in parts of California, especially higher elevations. They urged campers and hikers to avoid handling wild rodents, living or dead, since fleas often carry the bacteria from them.

Pets can also bring plague-infected fleas into homes. Officials highlighted the July case in Arizona, where a resident contracted pneumonic plague after contact with a dead animal — the state’s first plague-related death since 2007.