The 304 sites at Tuolumne Meadows Campground in Yosemite National Park will be closed next week Monday through Friday after authorities confirmed they found the bodies of two plague-infected squirrels.
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Park rangers responded to give medical assistance but both minors were pronounced dead.
No further information about the campers, including their ages, was immediately released.
The minors were camping in Yosemite Valley’s popular Upper Pines Campground.
“Our thoughts are with the families as they grieve this tragedy”, the park’s superintendent, Don Neubacher said.
According to KTLA, the Upper Pines Campground is “largely wooded” and “is regularly booked within minutes of reservations becoming available”.
Like the rest of California, Yosemite has been affected by a historic drought that has dried up streams and creeks as well as parched many trees.
Two tourists were killed and nine were injured in 1985 when a 25-foot oak branch fell 15 feet onto an open-air tram carrying 50 passengers. Yosemite National Park remains open and all other campgrounds and facilities in the park remain open to visitors. The child that was reported falling ill from the area in the park has fully recovered in their home in Los Angeles County.
A campsite at Yosemite National Park in California has been closed after two squirrels died of plague.
Plague is primarily carried by rodents and spread by fleas, and transmission between people is rare.
Although the human health risk is not alarming, and with the last report of human cases back in 2005 and 2006 successfully treated with antibiotics, health officials still warned the public.
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Early symptoms of plague may include high fever, chills, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit or groin. Colorado health officials say three cats have tested positive for plague this year, although they are not known to have infected any people.
