Health officials investigating plague case in Georgia

“Antibiotics are effective in treating plague, but without prompt treatment, the disease can cause serious illness or death”, said Patrick O’Neal, M.D., director of health protection for the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Even with the transferred campers, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

California health officials are investigating a second possible case of plague in less than a month in another tourist who fell ill after visiting Yosemite National Park.

“The fact that there’s been a second case of plague does not mean that there’s substantially more plague circulating in the rodent population”, Smith said.

Father of 18-year-old Georgian plague victim says Yosemite National Park lacks warning signs of plague, hence, necessary to warn people about the danger. 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.

The patient might have been infected while hiking in California, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. On Wednesday, however, the officials said they were not probing any other case associated with travel to the Yosemite National Park. One human case of plague has been confirmed in California.

Investigators are still attempting to determine how the two Yosemite visitors came in contact with the fleas.

Symptoms of plague usually appear two to six days after a bite and may include high fever, chills, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit or groin.

Authorities have closed the park’s Toulomne Meadows Campground and treated it with the insecticide deltamethrin to prevent the further spread of the disease, which is carried by squirrels, other small rodents and their fleas.

In California, plague-infected animals are most likely to be found in the foothills and mountains and to a lesser extent, along the coast. Today, the plague can be easily treated with antibiotics.

The United States sees an average of seven cases of plague a year, the CDC states.

Plague is not transmitted from human to human unless a patient has a lung infection – pneumonic plague – and is coughing.

Factors such as the amount of interaction between people and rodents (for example, people feeding the animals, or staying in cabins built in a new area), and the adventurousness of rodents, as they make their way into campgrounds, could affect people’s risk of plague.

Never feed squirrels, chipmunks or other rodents and never touch sick or dead rodents.

· Spray insect repellent containing DEET on skin and clothing, especially socks and pant cuffs to reduce exposure to fleas.

Keep wild rodents out of homes, trailers, and outbuildings, and away from pets.