Correct, yersinia pestis is endemic in many western state populations of prairie dogs, ground suirrels, chipminks, mice and rats. Anything that hunts and eats these rodents may also become infected. The fleas that reside on them are also infected.
Every few years a human cintracts it as a result of bites or scratches from an infected flea or rodent.
Been here a long time.
This. It’s not foreign to the US.