Overview

• El Dorado County health officials say the South Lake Tahoe resident likely contracted Yersinia pestis from an infected flea during a camping trip.
• The patient is under medical follow-up at home as an investigation proceeds to confirm where the exposure occurred.
• Public guidance emphasizes using insect repellent, wearing long pants, controlling fleas on pets, and avoiding contact with dead or wild rodents.
• The CDC reports roughly seven human plague cases in the U.S. each year, mostly in rural western areas, and early antibiotic treatment is effective.
• Wildlife surveillance has found the bacterium locally, including 41 positive rodents in El Dorado County from 2021–2024 and four in the Tahoe basin this year, with the last regional human case in 2020.