Veterinary epidemiologist of the National Forest Service, Danielle Buttke said there were no deceased rodents in the areas visited by the Lindquist’s, although the agency is still conducting environmental investigations of all the park’s areas.
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While there haven’t been any studies looking to see if the California drought is affecting plague risk, past research has shown that weather can affect plague transmission, said Dr. Bruno Chomel, a professor at the University of California at Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.
A second victim has been diagnosed with the plague state officials say, after visiting Yosemite National Park.
While the fleas came from rats aboard the ship, they soon spread to other rodents, such as mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and prairie dogs, all who call Yosemite and other parts of the western United States home. When an infected rodent becomes sick and dies, its fleas can carry the infection to other warm-blooded animals or humans.
In the mid-1300s, the “Black Death” spread along the world’s most popular trade routes, killing as much as a third of Europe’s population. There have been only 42 cases of human plague in California since 1970, of which nine were fatal.
After evidence of the plague was discovered, health officials closed two park campgrounds in Yosemite National Park.
“Warnings issued in California regarding plague were useful all the way across the country in Georgia”, she said in a press release. “Those warnings helped the patient get the prompt medical attention necessary to recover from this illness”.
After learning about the case of a Californian girl, the parents of Hannah requested for test, and the doctor discovered that the 18-year-old lady was positive for bubonic plague, was given antibiotic and treatment at once.
Plague symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit or groin. In 2014, non-human plague activity was detected in animals in seven counties: El Dorado, Mariposa, Modoc, Plumas, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Sierra. Small rodents such as mice are usually less susceptible than larger rodents are to becoming severely ill with plague, but if squirrels or chipmunks become infected, they usually die, Chomel said.
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Plague is not transmitted from human to human unless a patient has a lung infection – pneumonic plague – and is coughing. But now it is rare among humans. “People who develop these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention and notify their health care provider that they have been camping or out in the wilderness and have been exposed to rodents and fleas”.
