Second Tourist Diagnosed With Plague After Visiting Yosemite

A sign on the edge of Yosemite National Park, Calif., is surrounded by a burn from the Rim Fire on August 23, 2013.

"The risk to human health remains low," California's public health department says

A second tourist has beendiagnosed with plague after visiting Yosemite National Park in California, state officials announced Tuesday.

A patient from Georgia went to the doctor and tested positive for the disease after learning that some areas of the park were closed off as park authorities sprayed pesticides to kill plague-carrying fleas, MSNBC reported. Earlier this month, a Los Angeles girl also came down with the disease, which is usually very rare in humans, after visiting the park.

“Warnings issued in California regarding plague were useful all the way across the country in Georgia,” California Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith said in a statement. “Those warnings helped the patient get the prompt medical attention necessary to recover from this illness.”

Presence of the plague has also been confirmed in two dead squirrels that were found in the park. When an infected rodent dies, its fleas can spread the infection to other warm-blooded mammals, California’s public health department says, though “the risk to human health remains low.”

The plague has claimed lives in Colorado this year: An adult died earlier this month, and a 16-year-old boy died in June. Two other Colorado residents who caught the disease recovered after treatment.

Teach for America Applications Drop for Second Year in a Row

New teachers listen to veteran teaches during a break out session at Marion County Schools New Teach Orientation in Ocala, Fla. on Aug. 6, 2015.

As the organization welcomes one of its most diverse class of teachers yet

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The number of Teach for America applicants declined for the second year in a row, the education nonprofit revealed on Tuesday as it welcomed what it calls one of the most diverse teaching corps in the organization’s near 25-year history.

More than 44,000 people applied for the 2015-2016 school year, a drop from last year’s roughly 50,000 applications and a significant decline from the the previous year’s 57,000 applications, which capped several years of growth.

More than 40% of the new, smaller corp of 4,100 people—the organization maintains a 15% acceptance rate—identify as black, Latino or multi-racial or multi-ethnic; a third of them are the first in their families to graduate from a college or university.

Launched by Wendy Kopp in 1990, Teach for America places accomplished college graduates in low-income schools across the country to combat inequality in the education system. But some critics say the program neither adequately prepare its teachers, who receive a few weeks of training for the two-year commitment, nor makes lasting change with the frequent turnover of its teaching corps.