Campgrounds Closed at Yosemite National Park After Plague Detected
World-famous Yosemite National Park closed two of its campgrounds after recent plague cases. The park recently reopened a campground, which had previously been closed for flea treatment. Authorities closed Crane Flat Campground for four days and now it is open for campers.
According to the authorities, a child recently caught the plague in Tuolumne Meadow Campground. The young girl is currently receiving treatment, NBC reported.
The site needs to be treated with pesticides to prevent the transmission of the disease from rodents to humans, via fleas. Contrary to the general misconception, rodents that are sick with the plague can not transmit the disease to humans unless directly contacted but fleas can carry the disease from rodents to humans, working as a vector.
After the unidentified child caught the disease at the campsite, an investigation was initiated, which revealed that two dead squirrels tested positive for the plague.
California's chief medical officer Dr. Karen Smith told NBC: "Although this is a rare disease, and the current risk to humans is low, eliminating the fleas is the best way to protect the public from the disease. By eliminating the fleas, we reduce the risk of human exposure and break the cycle of plague in rodents at the sites. People can protect themselves from infection by avoiding any contact with wild rodents."
Although the risk is very low and the disease is now considered treatable, the word plague brings horror into mind. The disease wiped out more than one third of Europe's population between 1346-53 and brought devastation and misery. Thanks to the invention of miracle drugs like antibiotics, the disease now can be treated if a diagnosis is made in time, which might be challenging in certain cases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about seven cases of are plague reported in the U.S. every year. Recently a Colorado man died from plague, just two months after a Colorado teenager died from unusual septicemic infection caused by the plague, NBC reported.
