West Spanish Peak. Trip to West Spanish Peak via Wahatoya Camp route. Head to La Veta to end of Main Street. Turn left (East) at end of Main onto Grand. Go about 1/10th of a mile then right (South) onto Birch. Go 1.1 miles to CR 360 left and stay on this to jeep road 442.
Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. Rodents, such as rats, carry the disease. It is spread by their fleas. People can get plague when they are bitten by a flea that carries the plague bacteria from an infected rodent. In rare cases, people get the disease when handling an infected animal.
Although there were several competing theories as to the cause of the Black Death, analyses of DNA from people in northern and southern Europe published in 2010 and 2011 indicate that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium, resulting in several forms of plague, including the bubonic plague.