The discovery of the infected rodent was announced by the Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) body. The squirrel is the first case of plague in the county this year, the authority noted.

“Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can be contracted by humans and household animals if proper precautions are not taken,” the JCPH warned.

The dreaded disease, which decimated the world’s population at least three times during massive pandemics over the course of history, is extremely rare nowadays. Between 1,000 and 2,000 cases of the plague are still registered worldwide each year, coming primarily from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the US, the infection is particularly rare with around 1,000 human plague cases registered in over a century.

While the probability of a full-scale outbreak of plague on American soil is next to zero, news of the squirrel’s misfortune caused quite a stir on social media, with users well-prepped for disaster by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Many said gloomily that anything bad is possible this year, whether it be an outbreak of plague, a zombie apocalypse or a killer meteorite.