A Navajo schoolteacher -- Bob Tsinnijinnie -- who worked for my father had his father die of Yersinia pestis (that's the Bubonic bacterium) plague on the reservation years ago. We think he probably caught it from fleas from hunting wild rabbits.

The AZ Department of Health Services says there have 'only' been 5 reports of plague in AZ since 2000. [directorsblog.health.azdhs.gov]

Bob himself died a couple of years ago from COVID. Wow. I guess everyone eventually dies of something.

By far, the leading cause of death is life. Enjoy your life while you have it.

Rats, mice, squirresl or Indeed any rodent are all carriers, then and now.
The biggest Plague came after cats got demonized as "witches' familiars" and were hunted down, allowing the rodents to wildly proliferate....kind of satisfyingly poetic, yes?