>From MSNBC.COM
>
>BEIJING - Authorities killed rats and fleas on Tuesday as they disinfected a town sealed off after three people died of pneumonic plague in a remote farming town in northwestern China, according to the provincial health department. Police set up checkpoints around Ziketan in Qinghai province after the outbreak was first detected last Thursday. The lung infection is highly contagious can kill a person in as few as 24 hours if left untreated.
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>Holy Moly! Let's hope this one doesn't get loose.

It's around all the time and wide spread. For what I know parts of the hills around Santa Monica are a habitat for the plague.