A person in California recently tested positive for plague, according to El Dorado County health officials . The individual has been treated and is recovering at home.

About seven people get infected by the bacterium responsible for plague, Yersinia pestis , each year, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most U.S. cases occur in western states including Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada; in July, an Arizona man died from plague.

Here’s what to know about plague in the U.S.

How do people get plague?

People can contract plague after being bitten by infected fleas or touching infected animals like rats, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, rabbits, mountain lions, ferrets, and even dogs and cats.

El Dorado County health officia

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