VALENCIA COUNTY, N.M. —

The New Mexico Department of Health has confirmed the first case of the plague this year in a 43-year-old Valencia County man , who may have contracted the disease while camping in Rio Arriba County.

"The plague is actually a little bit more common in these areas than we think about," Dr. Abinash Achrekar, KOAT's UNM health expert, said.

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The disease is known to be carried in wildlife and can be transmitted to humans through infected fleas.

Achrekar explained, "An infected flea that has plague will spread it to other animals. That's why other pets and other wildlife can get plague, but it can be passed to humans too if you get bit by that infected flea."

Symptoms of the plague include fever, chills, he

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