Deadly plague in Colorado

Child visits national park, comes down with plague

(CNN)California authorities on Tuesday reported they're looking at a second person with the plague in the state -- and, like the other case, this one visited Yosemite National Park.

Before feeling sick, this person visited Yosemite, the Sierra National Forest and nearby areas. No other details were given, including who the person is, their current medical condition, and where exactly he or she stayed overnight. Nor is it certain this person contracted the plague while in California.

Still, the report suggests that two people recently in California have a disease best known for killing millions centuries ago that -- despite all the advances of modern science -- remains a real present-day problem.

In addition to the California cases, two people contracted the plague this year in Colorado. Both of them, a teenager in Larimer County and the other an adult in Pueblo County, died of the disease.

Pair of Yosemite campgrounds treated

News of the latest probable plague case in California comes just after Yosemite National Park shut down its Tuolumne Meadows Campground after authorities determined two dead squirrels had the plague.

The campground will be closed from Monday through Friday. It is one of 13 around Yosemite, which with about 4 million visitors is the third most visited U.S. national park.

Staff will treat the Tuolumne Meadows site with deltamethrin, a chemical that kills fleas that spread the plague, according to the park.

The first Yosemite campground to get the once over was Crane Flat, which is where a child -- after visiting nearby Stanislaus National Forest -- had stayed in mid-July. In that case, an insecticide that contained deltamethrin was used on rodent burrows on August 10 and 11.That child is recovering from the plague, and no other members of the camping party have reported any related symptoms, according to authorities.

Child visits national park, comes down with plague