In Madagascar, 20 People Died [of Bubonic Plague]

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 23:16

In Madagascar, 20 people died [of bubonic plague]

The Madagascar authorities have reported the death of at least 20 people as a result of an outbreak on the island of bubonic plague. The outbreak was recorded in the Mandritsar area in the northeast of the island. All the victims are residents of the same village. Currently, another 20 people from the same region who are suspected of being infected are receiving appropriate therapy.

Plague stick (Yersinia pestis) at 200x magnification. Image from the site wikimedia.org /

The Madagascar authorities have reported the death of at least 20 people as a result of an outbreak on the island of bubonic plague.

According to FoxNews, the outbreak was registered in the Mandritsar area in the northeast of the island. All the victims are residents of the same village. Due to the remoteness of the village, the outbreak was not contained in time, according to a police source. Currently, another 20 people from the same region who are suspected of being infected are receiving appropriate therapy.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health of Madagascar emphasizes that cases of infection with the plague pathogen by the bacterium Yersinia pestis have not yet been laboratory confirmed, since the analyzes of patients have not yet been delivered to the local branch of the Pasteur Institute.

Meanwhile, according to the BBC, the International Committee of the Red Cross in October issued a warning about the high risk of an outbreak of plague in Madagascar.

Madagascar is a plague-endemic area, and outbreaks of infection are recorded on the island every year. On average, Madagascar has between 200 and 300 cases of plague per year. The mortality rate of infection, according to official figures, is about 5 percent.

Plague is an acute natural focal bacterial disease transmitted by fleas that parasitize on rats. Bubonic plague, which is a particularly dangerous highly contagious and highly lethal infection, develops when the pathogen penetrates through the skin and is characterized by painful inflammation of the lymph nodes (buboes). As a rule, with the timely initiation of antibiotic therapy, now this disease does not lead to death, as it was in the Middle Ages.