OJAI : Campground Closed Over Plague Danger

State and county officials on Tuesday temporarily closed the Wheeler Gorge Campground north of Ojai after they discovered ground squirrels infected with the bubonic plague.

The popular 73-site campground will remain closed for about three weeks while county officials lure squirrels and other rodents into traps laced with insecticidal powder to control the spread of the flea-borne bacterial illness.

Plague bacteria were found in blood samples taken July 12-13 from ground squirrels trapped as part of the county’s ongoing disease-monitoring program, said Randy Smith of the county’s environmental health division.

“We have found it throughout the Los Padres National Forest,” Smith said. “Every year it seems to run its course. This year, we happened to find it in Wheeler Gorge.”

The plague bacteria found in the squirrels is the same type that killed millions of Europeans in the Middle Ages, he said.

But now, plague-infected people can easily be cured with antibiotics if the disease is diagnosed in its early stages. The disease produces flu-like symptoms of high fever, muscle aches, nausea and swollen, painful lymph glands.

Although health officials see the plague every year, deaths are rare. In Ventura County, Smith said, three people have died after contracting the disease: one in Lockwood Valley in 1954, one north of Fillmore in 1974 and one in Frazier Park in 1984.

The Environmental Health Division, which will offer updates on its hot line recording, 654-2432, offers these tips:

* Avoid contact with squirrels or other wild animals.

* Leave pets at home when entering areas where the plague has been detected.

* Do not camp or rest near animal burrows. Do not touch sick or dead animals. Report them to campground or local health officials.

* Wear long pants, shoes and socks and use insect repellent in suspect areas.

* See a doctor if you get sick within one week of entering the backcountry where the plague has been found.