The plague, aka the Black Death, made a reappearance in California last week after it infected a South Lake Tahoe resident.
The person contracted the rare and dangerous disease after being bitten by an infected flea while camping in the South Lake Tahoe area, according to El Dorado County health officials. The patient is recovering at home.
Most people associate the term "plague" with the massive and destructive event that killed 25 million Europeans in the Middle Ages, professor John Swartzberg told my colleague Karen Garcia. But it has also made several appearances in California within the last decade.
A plague case was reported in El Dorado County in 2020, and two other cases were reported in California in 2015, suspected to have been caused by bites from an infected flea or rodent in Yosemite National Park. All three patients received treatment and made a full recovery, health officials said.
Even though medical advancements have made the deadly disease treatable, it hasn't been eliminated.
Here's more from experts on why the plague is still around and how dangerous it is.
The plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and primarily affects small animals or rodents in the United States, Swartzberg said.
It can spread to humans and pets from the bite of an infected flea or from coming into close contact with or handling an infected rodent.
There are three types of the plague:
More than 80% of plague cases in the U.S. have been in the bubonic form.
The principal source of plague in Los Angeles County is wild rodents in rural areas. Woodland creatures that could carry the disease and should be avoided include chipmunks, wood rats, mice and marmots.
Most people who do contract the plague do so while hiking or camping in these areas and are unknowingly bitten by an infected flea, said Ashok Chopra, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Public health officials say the plague occurs in foothills, plateaus, mountains and along the coast but is largely absent from the southeastern desert region and the Central Valley.
Areas in Los Angeles County with the highest risk are the rural recreational and wilderness areas of the Angeles National Forest and San Gabriel Mountains, county officials said.
People and their pets can get the plague if they visit or live in areas where wild rodents are naturally infected, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department. People who live in close contact with rats also are at greater risk of getting the disease from the possibly infected rodents.
Although there have been several vaccine candidates to ward off the plague, there aren't any Food and Drug Administration-approved inoculations for the disease, Chopra said.
The disease also isn't a top priority for infectious-disease experts or public health officials because it's under control. It is still extremely uncommon and infects on average seven people in the U.S. per year.
The plague can be treated with antibiotics, and if we get treatment in a timely manner, there's little to fear, according to experts.
But if left untreated, it can be fatal.
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Today's great photo is from Times photographer Allen J. Schaben in Huntington Beach, where hundreds of volunteers, people of all ages with disabilities, and families came together for a day in the ocean.