--- title: Plague: Second Tourist Diagnosed After Visiting Yosemite description: "The risk to human health remains low," California's public health department says canonical: https://time.com/4003019/plague-cases-yosemite/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-19T14:53:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:07.086Z article:section: Health og:title: Second Tourist Diagnosed With Plague After Visiting Yosemite og:description: The risk for human infection is still low, California health officials say og:url: https://time.com/4003019/plague-cases-yosemite/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcff9244f9d8cdbb/69885e4f524fc0d9acdf3f04/yosemite-national-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3300 og:image:height: 1856 og:image:alt: sign yosemite National Park California og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Second Tourist Diagnosed With Plague After Visiting Yosemite twitter:description: The risk for human infection is still low, California health officials say twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcff9244f9d8cdbb/69885e4f524fc0d9acdf3f04/yosemite-national-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Second Tourist Diagnosed With Plague After Visiting Yosemite > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=ba1740d7-4cbb-4e66-8e18-7adeed5293c4&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Images of a Forgotten Plague [Watch (HLS stream): Images of a Forgotten Plague](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/agGgvoMM.m3u8) (3:25)  _Published 2008-10-02. Emerging strains of tuberculosis are deadlier than ever. TIME photographer James Nachtwey captures the crisis_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Aug 19, 2015 2:53 PM UTC  A sign on the edge of Yosemite National Park, Calif., is surrounded by a burn from the Rim Fire on August 23, 2013. A sign on the edge of Yosemite National Park, Calif., is surrounded by a burn from the Rim Fire on August 23, 2013. Max Whittaker—Reuters  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Aug 19, 2015 2:53 PM UTC A second tourist has been [diagnosed with plague](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/second-plague-case-traced-yosemite-national-park) after visiting Yosemite National Park in California, state officials announced Tuesday. A patient from Georgia went to the doctor and tested positive for the disease after learning that some areas of the park were closed off as park authorities sprayed pesticides to kill plague-carrying fleas, MSNBC reported. Earlier this month, a Los Angeles girl also came down with the disease, which is usually very rare in humans, after visiting the park. “Warnings issued in California regarding plague were useful all the way across the country in Georgia,” California Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith [said in a statement](http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR15-060.aspx). “Those warnings helped the patient get the prompt medical attention necessary to recover from this illness.” Presence of the plague has also been confirmed in two dead squirrels that were found in the park. When an infected rodent dies, its fleas can spread the infection to other warm-blooded mammals, California’s public health department says, though “the risk to human health remains low.” The plague has claimed lives in Colorado this year: An adult [died earlier this month](http://time.com/3987291/plague-claims-one-life-in-colorado/), and a 16-year-old boy died in June. Two other Colorado residents who caught the disease recovered after treatment. \[[_MSNBC_](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/second-plague-case-traced-yosemite-national-park)\] ## Transcript *** NO DICTATION *** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4003019/plague-cases-yosemite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4003019/plague-cases-yosemite/"},"headline":"Second Tourist Diagnosed With Plague After Visiting Yosemite","datePublished":"2015-08-19T14:53:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:07.086Z","description":"\"The risk to human health remains low,\" California's public health department says","url":"https://time.com/4003019/plague-cases-yosemite/","keywords":["diseases","infectious diseases","plague"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcff9244f9d8cdbb/69885e4f524fc0d9acdf3f04/yosemite-national-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfcff9244f9d8cdbb/69885e4f524fc0d9acdf3f04/yosemite-national-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sign yosemite National Park California","caption":"sign yosemite National Park California","creditText":"Max Whittaker—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/diseases/","name":"diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4003019/plague-cases-yosemite/","name":"Second Tourist Diagnosed With Plague After Visiting Yosemite"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Images of a Forgotten Plague","description":"Emerging strains of tuberculosis are deadlier than ever. 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