bubonic plague is nothing new in the region. late 80s i drove cross country for a wedding from nyc to south cali. stopped in a few spots of interest along the way. in AZ, made a stop at the petrified forest. as i had been on the road for several hours, after paying to park i chose the bathroom of the visitors center as my first stop. drained a vein, and as i washed my hands i saw a sign posted warning of the dangers of contracting bubonic plague virus from the fleas of rodents, along with a warning to neither hassle or touch live or dead warm blooded critters i encountered. pretty much decided to skip the petrified forest, and headed for the meteor crater national park. the crater was closed for maintainence, lol. hanta virus is huge there too, also rodent borne