'Worse Than Black Death' Epidemic! Pneumonic Plague Kills 39

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'Worse Than Black Death' Epidemic! Pneumonic Plague Kills 39

By Susan Duclos
South China Morning Post reports 39 people have now died from an outbreak in Madagascar, they describe as a "plague even more vicious than the bubonic strain dubbed the black death." They report a doctor explains that 90 percent of these affected are cases of "pneumonic plague," which is far more viscous than the common bubonic plague which kills in three days but allows time for antibiotics to work.

“There is an epidemic in Madagascar which is currently affecting five districts (out of 112). Eighty-six people have been inflicted by the plague, of which 39 have died,” the health ministry said in a statement.

The first person died before November, but government only officially declared the existence of a plague on November 23.

The CDC describes pneumonic plague in the following way:
Pneumonic plague occurs when Y. pestis infects the lungs. This type of plague can spread from person to person through the air. Transmission can take place if someone breathes in aerosolized bacteria, which could happen in a bioterrorist attack. Pneumonic plague is also spread by breathing in Y. pestis suspended in respiratory droplets from a person (or animal) with pneumonic plague. Becoming infected in this way usually requires direct and close contact with the ill person or animal. Pneumonic plague may also occur if a person with bubonic or septicemic plague is untreated and the bacteria spread to the lungs. 

 

Symptoms:

Patients develop sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, and weakness and one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes (called buboes). This form usually results from the bite of an infected flea. The bacteria multiply in the lymph node closest to where the bacteria entered the human body. If the patient is not treated with the appropriate antibiotics, the bacteria can spread to other parts of the body.

The report shows that since the Middle Ages there have been three plaugue pandemics with a death toll of over 200 million. In the 14th century it killed over a third of Europe's population.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Duclos owns/writes Wake up America

 

 

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