Local News in Brief : New Animal Plague Cases
Two new cases of animal plague have been found in the Angeles National Forest, raising to seven the total confirmed in Los Angeles County this year, the county’s Department of Health Services announced Monday.
Barbara Gondo, a spokeswoman for the department’s Plague Surveillance Sector, said one of the new cases involved infected ground squirrels trapped at the Buckhorn Flat Campground on the Angeles Crest Highway about 20 miles north of Azusa and the other involved the dog of an employee at the Shortcut Ranger Station, about 12 miles north of Altadena.
The disease, which is usually transmitted through the bite of an infected flea, can afflict humans as bubonic plague. Both areas are being dusted with pesticide to kill fleas, Gondo said.
Evidence of animal plague was found earlier this year in squirrels at Griffith Park, Charlton Flat and Barley Flat. It was also found in a coyote in Griffith Park, a dog in Santa Clarita and a cat in Rancho Palos Verdes.
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