WOMAN HIKER DIAGNOSED WITH BUBONIC PLAGUE.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

A 71-year-old Tehachapi-area woman has been diagnosed with bubonic plague, the second plague victim from that area since 1995.

The unidentified woman, who came down with symptoms two weeks ago and remains hospitalized, apparently wasbitten by fleas while walking in the hills around her home, west of the Golden Hills area outside Tehachapi, Kern County health officials said.

``The lady walks through the woods on a regular basis as a portion of her exercise program,'' said Dr. Boyce Dulan, a spokesman for the Kern County Department of Public Health. ``She noted she had flea bites on her extremities. She has noticed that on several occasions.''

The same disease that killed a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages, bubonic plague is endemic - always present - among ground squirrels around Tehachapi, Lake Isabella, Frazier Park and in the Angeles National Forest between the Los Angeles Basin and Antelope Valley.

Kern and Los Angeles County health officials annually send out warnings for campers, hikers and residents in those areas to take precautions against the disease - mainly by avoiding ground squirrels and their fleas.

While plague is common among wild animals in certain areas, it seldom spreads to humans. Statewide, there have been six cases since 1994.

The last case in Kern County involved a 23-year-old Tehachapi man who died in April 1995 after developing the more virulent pneumonic form of plague.

Authorities were never able to trace exactly where John Breen contracted the disease. Rodents and wild cats trapped around where he lived and worked tested negative, though a bobcat and a house cat with the same form of plague were found in Keene, a community several miles west.

One theory advanced at the time was that he came in contact with a dead animal infected with plague at the recycling company where he worked.

Before Breen, the last known case of human plague in Kern County came in 1986, when a Los Angeles County resident caught the disease in the Tehachapi area. In May 1984, a 24-year-old Frazier Park man caught the disease and died.

The last known human plague case acquired in Los Angeles County was in 1984, officials said.

Kern County and state workers set out traps Monday for squirrels and other wild animals in the area where the woman walked. Trapped animals and their fleas will be sent to a state testing laboratory, and results should be back in one to three weeks.

One of the things the tests will show if there is a greater-than-usual infestation of the plague organism - Yersinia pestis - among wild animals. However, the Tehachapi woman's illness is no indication that conditions this year pose any greater risk of humans contracting the disease, officials said.

The woman noticed symptoms around June 3. She went to a doctor and was given medicine but returned when her condition did not improve, Dulan said. She then was sent to a hospital, where her illness was identified as plague, he said.

The case is still officially listed as probable plague, because health officials are awaiting final test results.

Health experts disagree whether certain climactic conditions - like a warm, wet winter that boosts squirrel and flea survival - make it more likely for humans to contract the disease, state Department of Health Services spokesman Scott Lewis.

``The key is we know plague is endemic - it's always there in one level or another,'' said Steve McCalley, director of Kern County's Environmental Health Services Department.

Depending on the results of tests, state officials may dust burrows with insecticide that will kill the fleas but not harm the squirrels, but health experts said a more effective way to reduce plague risks is to educate people to change their behavior in the wild.

``You can kill all the fleas you want and you miss one and that's the one that gets you,'' McCalley said. ``Realistically, we can't dust all the burrows in Kern County.''

AVOIDING THE PLAGUE

State and local health officials say Southern California residents can take several steps to reduce the chance of being infected by the bacterium that causes the plague. Among the steps:

Do not feed or handle wild animals, particularly ground squirrels and rabbits. Report any animals acting strangely, such as sluggishly, to the local health department.

Do not touch sick or dead animals. Report their location to the local health department.

If odors or flies are noticed around rodent burrows, report it to the local health department.

Do not camp or sit near rodent burrows.

Use insect repellent when hiking in plague-suspected areas. Wear long-sleeve shirts and long pants with cuffs tucked into socks.

Use flea collars on pets and dust pets regularly with flea powder. Pets visiting plague-suspected areas should be observed for seven days. If they become ill, they should be examined by a veterinarian.

See a physician if you become ill with fever or swollen lymph nodes within seven days of a visit to the mountains.

The initial symptoms of plague in humans begin to manifest themselves in two to six days. Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, weakness and swollen glands.

Source - Kern County Health Department

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