Health officials have confirmed a case of plague near South Lake Tahoe – the first in California in five years.
El Dorado County officials said Monday that the California Department of Public Health was aware of the positive test of a resident undergoing medical care while he was recovering at home.
Plague bacteria are often transmitted by flies that have received it from infected squirrels, chipmunks and other wild rodents. Dogs and cats can also carry meat-infected meats.
Health officials believe the South Lake Tahoe resident may have been bitten by an infected flower while walking a dog along the Truckee River corridor as well as in the Tahoe Keys area on the south coast of Tahoe.
The last reported human cases of plague in California were in 2015 when two people were exposed to infected rodents like their bats in Yosemite National Park. Both were treated and recovered.
No human cases have been reported since, but authorities found evidence that a total of 20 ground beetles as chipmunks around South Lake Tahoe were exposed to the plague bacterium from 2016 to 2019. Those rodents were identified near the Tallac Historic Site, Fallen Leaf Campground as Taylor Creek Visitor Center.
