Yosemite remains busy despite plague reports

Activity at Yosemite National Park was in full swing this week, like it usually is every summer, the park’s busiest time of the year.

Recent news of human cases of plague did not seem to concern many visitors. A sign outside the Highway 140 entrance warned visitors that all Valley campgrounds were full.

On Tuesday, the state health department announced an investigation of a “presumptive positive case of plague” involving a person from Georgia who visited Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National Forest earlier this month.

State health officials said testing to confirm the case is being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is the second human case of plague being looked into. Earlier this month, park and state health officials confirmed a child from Los Angeles was hospitalized with plague after visiting Stanislaus National Forest and camping at Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite National Park in mid-July.

Plague is an infectious bacterial disease that can be carried by squirrels, chipmunks, other wild rodents and their fleas. Early symptoms of plague, according to the CDC, include fever; chills; nausea; weakness; and swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit and groin. People are advised to follow up with their doctor if they experience any of these symptoms after visiting the park.

Jaime Marfil, a first-time visitor from Spain who was at the park Tuesday, said he had not heard about the plague incidences prior to his arrival at the park. But having known beforehand would not have changed his plans of visiting, he said.

“I think that if they (park officials) feel it’s a real danger, they will close the park or tell us where we should go or not,” he said. “We are trusting in the good work of the people of the park.”

Marfil said he takes every opportunity he can to visit the U.S.’s best scenery. After his two days in Yosemite, he and friends will head to Lake Tahoe.

“We try to escape the city and the crowded beaches and keep in touch with nature as much as possible,” he said.

Danielle Buttke, a heath coordinator with the National Park Service, said plague is a very rare disease and that the risk to humans remains low.

Buttke said officials are seeing a lot more plague activity throughout the western United States. The reason for the increase is still unknown, Buttke said.

While plague is not a tremendous risk for human health at this point, it can be for wildlife. The plague has the most dramatic impact on rodent species such as prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets, Buttke said.

“It is absolutely devastating for our native wildlife,” she said. “Plague is not native … species have almost gone extinct because of plague.”

Health officials said when an infected rodent becomes sick and dies, its fleas can carry the infection to other warm-blooded animals including humans.

Crane Flat Campground opened Friday after being closed for four nights for flea treatment. Tuolumne Meadows Campground in Yosemite is closed this week for a similar treatment after infected squirrels were detected in the area.

Park officials said the closure of campgrounds has not impacted park visitation.

Debra and Alan Alberto of Iowa were celebrating an anniversary at the park Tuesday. They said they had heard about one of the plague cases and about the oak tree limb that fell on top of a tent, killing two teenage boys, but they had planned this trip weeks in advance.

The only precaution the Albertos took was spraying themselves with bug repellant, which is advised by officials.

“My understanding is that plague can always be in the wilderness,” Alan Alberto said. “Things like this can happen anywhere.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Yosemite remains busy despite plague reports."