124 dead, nearly 1,200 infected with plague in Madagascar

A plague outbreak in Madagascar has infected 1,192 people since August, with 124 deaths, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Madagascar's National Bureau of Risk Management and Disaster reported on Monday. The majority of cases, 67%, were the pneumonic form of the disease, which can spread from person to person.
Plague is caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is typically spread through the bite of infected fleas, frequently carried by rats, causing bubonic plague. Symptoms include painful, swollen lymph nodes, called bubos, as well as fever, chills and coughing. Pneumonic plague is more virulent or damaging and is an advanced form characterized by a severe lung infection that can be transmitted from person to person via airborne droplets such as through coughing or sneezing, for example. The incubation period is short, and an infected person may die within 12 to 24 hours.
Both forms can be treated with antibiotics, making early detection a priority.
Of Madagascar's 114 districts, 40 have reported cases of pneumonic plague and less than 30% of people who have had contact with cases can be traced, according to the UN office. Those who've been in contact might need treatment themselves and may pose further risk of spreading the infection. Cases have been reported in at least 10 cities, including the the larger, more populated, cities of Antananarivo and Toamasina.
But 780 individuals have been cured of their infection since August 1 and six of the affected districts have not reported new cases for 15 days, the UN report states.
Despite the increase in numbers, the trend has been relatively stable, a World Health Organization representative told CNN.
Plague is endemic to Madagascar, with an estimated 400 cases reported there every year, mostly the bubonic variety, but the current outbreak has affected more areas and started earlier than usual. It's also unusual for large urban areas to be affected, as they have been this year, the WHO previously told CNN.
The current outbreak began after the death of a man in the central highlands of the country -- a plague-endemic area -- after which the Ministry of Public Health began investigating and tracing his contacts, according to the WHO.

Source: CNN