The U.S. Forest Service announced that at least two sites of Lake Tahoe will be closed until Friday because of the plague discovered in some chipmunks swarming the south shore.
Officials said that Taylor Creek Visitor Center, Kiva Beach and their respective parking spaces will be subjected to treatment and will be ordered closed. The Tallac Site/ Kiva Picnic area, meanwhile, will stay open.
Officials added that the wipeout procedure is expected to be finished in time for the weekend.
Cases of the plague in humans are uncommon but can be severe, officials cautioned. These cases naturally emerge in areas in California.
Rodents including squirrels and chipmunks, as well as their fleas, can spread the bacterial disease.
“People can become infected through close contact with infected animals or the bite of an infected flea,” the Forest Service said. “Plague can be prevented by avoiding contact with these rodents and their fleas, and by keeping pets away from rodents and their burrows.”
In the past, officials from El Dorado released the same caution following the detection of the plague in a similar location.
Last year, the state recorded its first case of plague in five years. It involved a person suspected to have got the disease through a flea on the south shore of Lake Tahoe where the individual walks a dog.
State health officials in Colorado, meanwhile, said that plague has been detected in six counties last month. It was connected to a 10-year-old’s death, KRON4 reported.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), humans can be infected by plague by getting in contact with an infected animal or bacteria-carrying rodent flea. Included in the symptoms are headache, chills, abrupt onset of fever, weakness, as well as swollen lymph nodes.
