New Mexico health officials said Monday it has identified its first human case of the plague in the state this year.

The case was confirmed in a 43-year-old man from Valencia County, who had recently gone camping in Rio Arriba County, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

The man was hospitalized for treatment, but has since been discharged.

Plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, and is primarily transmitted to humans through rodent flea bites from animals like rats, squirrels and chipmunks or from handling a dead, infected animal.

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Health officials tell Scripps News the case in New Mexico was both bubonic, which is the most common type of plague, and septicemic. A

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