Health officials issue warning as US man tests positive for plague that killed millions

Health officials have issued a warning after a man from California tested positive for the plague.

The plague was first known to have been in the US in 1900 after rat–infested steamships sailed from affected areas and caused epidemics in port cities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that the plague is a disease caused by a type of bacteria that results in about seven cases in the US every single year.

And now, local health officials have confirmed a man in South Lake Tahoe, California, has tested positive for the disease having been bitten by an infected flea while camping.

Symptoms of the plague include fever, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes, with health officials warning they usually come to fruition around two weeks after exposure.

The man was infected in South Lake Tahoe (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Officials have also said the disease usually happens in areas of the western US where infected rodents roam.

Issuing the general public with a warning, Kyle Fliflet, acting director of public health in El Dorado County, said: "Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher elevation areas of El Dorado County.

"It's important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking and or camping in areas where wild rodents are present."

Thankfully, the disease can be cured with antibiotics, though this does have to be administrated promptly to avoid serious illness or even death.

Last month, an Arizonian man died from the disease after he contracted the pneumonic plague, which it described as 'a severe lung infection caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium'.

A man died of the plague last month (Getty Stock Photo)

He is the first person to die from the disease in the county since 2007.

The unidentified man is believed to have visited Flagstaff Medical Center Emergency Department, roughly a two-hour drive from Phoenix, where he succumbed to the disease the same day.

In a statement issued by Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH), doctors attempted to 'to provide life-saving resuscitation' on the individual but he 'did not recover'.

The hospital has been looking into the case alongside Coconino County Health and Human Services Department, as well as the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The health institution added: "NAH would like to remind anyone who suspects they are ill with a contagious disease to contact their health care provider."

CDC data shows at least 15 people have died from the plague since 2000, including the Arizonian man from last month.

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