Lake Tahoe Resident Tests Positive for Plague After Infected Flea Bite

A person in Lake Tahoe has tested positive for the plague after seemingly being bitten by an infected flea while camping.

On Tuesday, Aug. 19, El Dorado County health officials confirmed they had been notified by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) that a South Lake Tahoe resident had tested positive for the disease, El Dorado County officials said in a news release.

“The individual is currently under the care of a medical professional and is recovering at home,” the release stated.

“It’s believed that the person may have been bitten by an infected flea while camping in [the] South Lake Tahoe area. Health officials are investigating the situation,” it continued.

The plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and is transmitted to people by rodent fleas, or by handling an infected animal, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.

It manifests first as the bubonic plague, with symptoms that include fever, headache, chills, weakness and swollen, painful lymph nodes. The disease, if untreated, may progress into septicemic plague, which causes abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into the skin. 

Kyle Fliflet, El Dorado County’s Acting Director of Public Health, said of the Lake Tahoe case, “Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher elevation areas of El Dorado County,” per the news release.

“It’s important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking and or camping in areas where wild rodents are present,” he added. 

According to the CDC, there’s an average of seven human plague cases reported each year in the U.S, usually in the west of the country, with most being in northern New Mexico and Arizona.

El Dorado County’s release added, “Plague bacteria are most often transmitted by the bites of fleas that have acquired the bacteria from infected squirrels, chipmunks, and other wild rodents.” 

“Dogs and cats may also bring plague-infected fleas into the home. People can get plague when they are bitten by infected fleas. Plague can be prevented by avoiding contact with wild rodents, and by keeping pets away from rodent burrows,” it added.

Symptoms of the disease “usually show up within two weeks of exposure to an infected animal or flea,” per the release, which stated that “plague can be effectively treated with antibiotics if detected early.”

The release noted, “CDPH routinely monitors rodent populations for plague activity in California and closely coordinates with county health officials.” 

“Surveillance activities in El Dorado County from 2021 through 2024 found a total of 41 rodents (ground squirrels or chipmunks) with evidence of exposure to the plague bacterium. To date in 2025, four additional rodents have tested positive. All these rodents were identified in the Tahoe Basin,” it added.

Officials also said that “prior to the current case, the most recently reported case of human plague in El Dorado County was in 2020, likely exposed in the South Lake Tahoe area.”

Before that, two people were reported to have the plague in 2015 after being exposed to infected rodents or their fleas in Yosemite National Park.

“All individuals were treated and recovered. Those were the first reported human cases in the state since 2006,” officials said, per the release.

An El Dorado County spokesperson and the California Department of Public Health didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.

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The latest case comes after a person died of the bacteria that causes the plague in Northern Arizona, near Flagstaff, last month.

Tests on July 11 “confirmed that a Coconino County resident [had] died from pneumonic plague, a severe lung infection caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium,” Coconino County Health and Human Services (CCHHS) officials said in a news release.