Madagascar hit by 'pneumonic and bubonic plague' : 21 Deaths now being reported

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Madagascar hit by 'pneumonic and bubonic plague' : 21 Deaths now being reported

An ICRC-led programme is working to reduce prison rat populations

Two cases of pneumonic plague - more deadly than bubonic plague - have been reported in Madagascar, a health official has told the BBC.

It comes after it was confirmed that there was a deadly outbreak of the bubonic plague in a village in the north-west of the island.
Pneumonic plague can be inhaled and transmitted between humans without involvement of animals or fleas.
It is the most virulent and least common form of plague.
It can kill within 24 hours.
'Most deaths' Bubonic plague hit a village near Madagascar's north-western town of Mandritsara last week.
At least 20 people were reported to have died.

The plague is spread because of poor hygiene

The Pasteur Institute of Madagascar confirmed on Tuesday that tests taken from some bodies in the village, near the north-western town of Mandritsara, last week showed that they had died of the plague.
However, it did not say how many people had died.
Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria that occur in bubonic plague - the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.
But while bubonic plague is usually transmitted by flea bites and can be treated with antibiotics, pneumonic plague is easier to contract and if untreated, has a very high case-fatality ratio, experts say.

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IRIB

Wednesday, 11 December 2013 21:17

Bubonic plaque outbreak kills 21 in Madagascar

At least 21 people have died this week in northern Madagascar after contracting pneumonic plague, the Health Ministry says.

According to the reports, a village near the northwestern town of Mandritsara on the island of Madagascar is where at least 21 people perished following a deadly outbreak of the plague, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Medical experts from the Pasteur Institute in Madagascar confirmed tests had identified their cause of death as the bubonic plague, a disease that claimed 25 million lives in the Middle Ages.

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