Child Who Camped At Yosemite National Park Contracts Plague

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (CBS SF) -- A child who was camping with family at Yosemite National Park contracted plague, the first case reported in the state since 2006.

According to officials, the family was visiting the Stanislaus National Forest and camping at Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite National Park in mid-July.

Due to privacy laws, few details have been released about the child, who is currently recovering at an undisclosed hospital in Los Angeles County.

No other family members reported symptoms.

Dr. Brian Ostick, director of emergency medicine at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys said the plague is extremely rare. Plague is carried by rodents and spread by fleas to animals and people.

"The symptoms would be fever, nausea, vomiting and then classically people get swollen lymph nodes in the neck, in the groin and in their armpits," Ostick told KCBS Television in Los Angeles.

To avoid exposure, Ostick advised not feeting or getting close to wild rodents, including squirrels.

Since 1970, 42 people have contracted plague in California. Nine of those people died.