Overview

• The patient is recovering at home under medical care as county and state health agencies investigate the exposure, and officials have not released the person's identity.
• Health authorities say the disease is caused by Yersinia pestis and is most often spread by fleas from infected wild rodents, with early antibiotic treatment considered effective.
• Surveillance data show four plague-positive rodents detected in the Tahoe Basin in 2025 and 41 rodents with evidence of exposure from 2021 through 2024.
• Public guidance urges keeping pets leashed and on flea control, avoiding contact with rodents and burrows, using DEET on socks and pant cuffs, and wearing long pants tucked into boots.
• Plague cases in the U.S. average about seven per year, largely in the West, with recent detections including an Arizona fatality and a Colorado cat, though overall public risk remains low.