CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : IDYLLWILD : Plague Fleas Killed

A campground has been reopened after Riverside County health officials treated squirrels to eradicate bubonic plague-carrying fleas. The Marion Mountain campground, five miles north of Idyllwild, was closed in July after state health inspectors found ground squirrels with an unusually large number of disease-carrying fleas. The U.S. Forest Service closed the campground as a precaution while ground squirrels and their burrows were dusted with pesticide to kill the fleas, said Hugh Murray, county vector ecologist. After retesting, the 25-campsite campground was opened Thursday, Murray said. No cases of illness were reported in connection with the fleas, he said.