Yet again, the plague – a disease that killed millions centuries ago but has been believed nearly eradicated due to modern medicine – has reared its head in Yosemite, as a second person in just a few weeks who visited the national park turned up positive on test results.
The name or age of the individual isn’t being released. But CNN reported the latest plague victim hails from Georgia and visited Yosemite National Park in August.
The California Department of Public Health said medical authorities had confirmed “a presumptive positive case of plague,” CNN reported.
Earlier this month, a California child tested positive for plague after visiting both Yosemite and Stanislaus National Forest.
And within the last few weeks, a Boulder, Colorado, resident died from plague. The total number of plague cases reported this summer, including this latest, is seven. Three of those who contracted the disease, which is commonly carried by prairie dogs in the western portion of the country, have died.
Authorities in Yosemite have closed down part of the park’s campground sites after finding two plague-infected squirrels. Park staffers, meanwhile, have been treated with deltamethrin, a chemical that kills fleas that help spread the disease, CNN reported.
