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I am a bit worried about the Bubonic Plague…

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I never thought I would utter those words, but here I am.. 

Two days ago I decided to go up and visit our local Palomar Mountain near San Diego California.

 It was a hot day down by the beach and I thought going up to the mountains 7000 feet above sea level would be a perfect change. A great place to let the dogs run, and have a picnic. Take some pictures and go for a little hike. Or so I thought. We did have a great time! We picked a pretty little picnic table in this old grove forest. We had a really good lunch and had fun watching the dogs go crazy trying to find those pesky wabbits. 

The problem was, was I didn’t stop at the trail head to read the signs. On the way out we stopped to look at the signs and trails listed on the trail head. 

There was a yellow sign posted on a 8 x 10 piece of poster paper. Here is that sign. 

I had no idea that they started finding ground squirrels and fleas with the plague in 2008. There were 9 squirrels found with the black plague in 2008. 

2009 There were 3.

2010 There was one case.

2011 No cases reported.

2012 4 were reported.

2013 8 were reported.

2014 0 were reported.

2015 1 was reported.

2017 2 were found. 

This year the reports are not out yet. In 2015 they found fleas with the plague along with 1 California ground squirrel. The treated all the animal burrows in the campsites that they could find with flea powder. 

I am still worried, I haven’t started flea control yet on my dogs. We usually don’t have a flea problem until the last of July or early August. So I wait until then to treat the dogs. 

I feel really horrible, that I could have exposed all of us to the plague. I will continue to watch the dogs for signs of the buboes. I heard once that the word buboes is how we came up with booboos for sores. Anyway, the first symptoms are swollen nymph nodes, chills, headaches. Dogs may start vomiting and have severe diarrhea along with swollen nymph nodes. 

I will use another post to post pictures of the day. Before we became worried… 

I think there should be more of a warning, not just a little sign on plagues no one reads… Like signs on the road leading up the mountain, and at the campsite themselves. 

I wasn’t even aware there was plague still in the USA.  

 

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Written by Kim_Johnson

32 Comments

  1. I was well aware of it and have changed campsites when I found burrows under the picnic table in California parks. I think it is a very real danger, especially when you are taking dogs, who love to go off the beaten trail. Maybe it is less of a danger than mosquitos, though.

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    • I had no idea, somehow I must of missed the news on this outbreak. I would never have taken the dogs, well I would of never went if I had known. In this case ignorance is not bliss. lol. 5 days now, and still no signs of sickness in the dogs. I think they will be okay.

  2. Glad to see this highlighted because it is important for people to understand that these animals are indeed rodents carrying fleas that carry many devastating diseases, including the plague. Infestations of these animals are a ticking time bomb.

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  5. Wow, bubonic plague. I had heard there were some small outbreaks just about anywhere but in the Northern Hemisphere, I had never heard about it except of course in the good old Middle Ages. It is scary and I hope you, your partner and your dogs are OK and will keep on being OK. But I agree with you that there should be much bigger signs at the entrances of any wildlife areas, or parks and whatever other place which has animals roaming around. I am sure glad that this was never the case with my three previous dogs, especially Belle (miniature American Eskimo) who would run after everything and nothing. My two other dogs, even though I loved them dearly were slightly scared of their own shadow.
    Keep checking them and also yourselves. I am sure though that you are going to be fine.

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    • I had no idea it was in California. I had heard of the big outbreak Africa. I did get them on flea stuff as soon as I got back. I will watch them for 9 days, then the coast is clear so to speak.

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    • Odd thing,,fleas don’t like me. I can walk into an infestation in a house and maybe get one bite. They wont even jump on me. I will keep watching the dogs though. And Meika never picks up dead stuff, she prefers the hunt. Thanks Doc!

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  8. What needs to happen is to let areas remain in the wild state in our neighborhoods. Snakes will take care of the problem. They eat the rodents that carry the fleas. I know people don’t like snakes but, if my wife can get over it, so can they. Even the venomous ones. It’s unlikely that you will ever see a venomous snake in the USA unless you are looking for them.

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    • True, a few more snakes would do the trick. I have seen one rattlesnack in the last 10 years. I hike once a week off the beaten path. I wonder what kind of snakes they have on the mountain. Apparently not enough right?

  9. Whether it is dangerous for a dog is also for humans. Everything is contaminated, diseases on all sides.
    Serbia is in second place against cancer in Europe. Terrible.

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  10. I knew there have always been a few cases each year. However, there is a major outbreak in Mozambique. All it takes is one or two infected people and it becomes our problem also.

    I’m not being unsympathetic to those in Africa. I think we should do all that we can to help them but we also need to keep it outside our borders.

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