Health authorities along with Yosemite National Park crew have already been very vigilant as they advise tourists to avoid walking or even setting up their tents near rodent burrows.
Advertisement
Providing more information on the accident that took place on Friday, Yosemite spokesperson Scott Gediman said it was a black oak limb fell that fell on the tent of the two campers.
The pair, believed to be less than 18 years of age was both dead when the rangers discovered them at the Upper Pines Campground.
Earlier this month, Yosemite Park was in the headlines because of a reported case of a child contracting human plague while camping in the said area and now, Yosemite is temporarily closed to the public after the death of two plague-stricken squirrels and two campers were killed due to a falling tree branch. Officials informed that the reason behind the falling of the limb, and its exact size, were not immediately revealed.
Large fallen limbs are a common occurrence at Yosemite, and they have occasionally led to deaths. A concession employee at the park dying in 2012 was the most recent incident in which a tree branch hit his tent cabin. In addition, there were two camper deaths, while nine others were injured in 1985 when a huge 25-foot branch fell on an open-air tram.
In the park’s 304-site campgrounds, visitor reservations were likewise cancelled based on recommendations of the Department of Health (DOH).
Rodents are the actual culprit that carries plague and is spread by fleas, but experts stated that the transmission between people is rare.
The California Department of Health said, “Tuolumne Meadows Campground will close from noon Monday through noon Friday so authorities can treat the area with a flea-killing insecticide”. The park reopened Crane Flat on Friday after treating that campground for four days with an insecticide.
Advertisement
Plague’s symptoms can include fever, chills, weakness, abdominal pain, and sometimes shortness of breath and swollen lymph nodes. While the child was recovering in the hospital, other members of the family were healthy. If antibiotics are administered soon after infection, it can be treated and cured, but is deadly if treatment is delayed. The department added that plague-infected animals are found in California every year, usually in the mountains and foothills.
