32 Die Of Bubonic Plague In Madagascar

[Capt. Obvious]

Source: Associated Press

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) -- Bubonic plague, which wiped out a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages, has reared its ugly head in the African island state of Madagascar where 32 people have died in a fresh outbreak of the so-called Black Death disease, according to health authorities.

Some 84 suspected cases of bubonic plague -- 60 of them suspected of being pneumonic or pulmonary plague, a more virulent strain of the disease -- have been reported in five of the island's 112 districts in the past month.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria that occur in bubonic plague but, while bubonic plague is usually transmitted by bites from rat-borne fleas and can be treated with antibiotics, pneumonic plague can be inhaled and transmitted between humans without involvement of animals or fleas and, if untreated, has a very high fatality rate, experts say. It can kill within 24 hours.

Last year, Madagascar reported 60 deaths from bubonic plague. Poor hygiene and declining living standards as a result of a protracted political crisis since a coup in 2009 are cited as the primary causes of the spread of the disease.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/32-die-of-bubonic-plague-in-madagascar

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Woah! This one's ariborne.

[Recursion]

1. Oh crap... pneumonic is the "bring out your dead" kind...

That's not good...

[PatrynXX]

2. hey your supposed to stay away from the prairie dogs!!

sheesh. well if they have them. was already warned not to go out at touch the cute things out in the Badlands because they have it.

[Renew Deal]

3. Crazy

Are people supposed to be vaccinated for it?

[PADemD]

5. vaccine?

No. See link

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11457543

[Recursion]

6. Negative, it responds to antibiotics, though

At least, it currently does...

[enlightenment]

7. The issue is healthcare.

The disease responds well to antibiotics - IF they are delivered in a timely fashion. Madagascar lacks sufficient means to do that. According to the WHO, only 60-70% of the inhabitants had ready access to primary healthcare in 2008 - before the coup. Since then it has only gotten worse.

http://www.irinnews.org/report/95533/madagascar-a-decaying-health-sector

[Javaman]

4. Then there is the thrid kind...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septicemic_plague

Septicemic (or septicaemic) plague is a deadly blood infection, one of the three main forms of plague. It is caused by Yersinia pestis, a gram-negative bacterium. Septicemic plague is a serious bacterial infection that is spread from flea bites.

Like some other forms of gram-negative sepsis, septicemic plague can cause disseminated intravascular coagulation, and is almost always fatal without treatment (the mortality rate in medieval times was 99-100 percent). Fewer than 5000 people a year are infected with the disease. Septicemic plague is the rarest of the three plague varieties; the other forms are bubonic and pneumonic plague.[1]