CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : KINGS CANYON : Bubonic Plague Closes Campsites

Two campgrounds in Kings Canyon National Park were closed after a mouse died of bubonic plague. A dusting program will take three to four weeks to remove diseased fleas from rodents in the Azalea and Crystal Springs campgrounds, located in the popular Grant Grove section of the park. The closures temporarily eliminate 185 of the park’s 683 campsites. The adjacent Sunset campground, which had already closed for the winter, will also be treated. Bubonic plague has also been reported among animals this season at Monache Meadows in Sequoia National Forest, Ansel Adams Wilderness area in Sierra National Forest and in Mono and Modoc counties. California’s only human bubonic plague case this year was a Fresno County resident who contracted the disease in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. He survived, said Scott Lewis of the state Department of Health Services.