California Resident Infected With Plague After Camping in Lake Tahoe

Health officials say an infected flea might have bitten the camper. The last reported case of human plague in El Dorado County was in 2020.

A South Lake Tahoe resident contracted the plague after camping in the area, health officials said on Aug. 19, 2025. Jill McLaughlin/The Epoch Times

Health officials suspect an infected flea was responsible for spreading plague to a South Lake Tahoe resident, authorities announced on Aug. 19.

The victim tested positive for plague—the same disease responsible for the black death that killed 25 million Europeans in the Middle Ages.