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Mahesh

18/02/24 11:10 AM IST

The bubonic plague

In News
  • Recently, health officials in Oregon, US confirmed the first case of bubonic plague in the state since 2005.
Bubonic Plague
  • The plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, i.e. bacteria that can spread between animals and people. Y pestis is usually found in small animals and their fleas.
  • According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), humans can be infected in one of three ways — “the bite of infected vector fleas”, “unprotected contact with infectious bodily fluids or contaminated materials” (like bitten by an infected rat), and “the inhalation of respiratory droplets/small particles from a patient with pneumonic plague”.
Symptoms
  • Plague symptoms can manifest in a number of ways. Bubonic plague specifically refers to cases where bacteria gets into the lymph nodes.
  • According to the United States’ Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can cause fever, headache, weakness and painful, swollen lymph nodes, and usually happens from the bite of an infected flea.
  • Septicemic plague happens if the bacteria enters the bloodstream.
  • This often follows untreated bubonic plague, and causes additional, more serious symptoms.
  • These include abdominal pain, shock, bleeding into the skin, and blackening of appendages, most often fingers, toes or the nose.
  • According to the CDC, this form comes either from flea bites or from handling an infected animal.
  • Pneumonic plague is the most dangerous, and according to the WHO, “almost always fatal” if untreated.
  • As the name suggests, it happens when the bacteria enters the lungs, and adds rapidly developing pneumonia to the list of symptoms.
  • According to the CDC, it is the only form of plague that can be spread from person to person by inhaling infectious droplets — also making it the most contagious.
Black death
  • The Black Death was the single most deadly disease outbreak in history till the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918-20.
  • Taking into account the significantly lower population levels of the 14th century, the Black Death is still the most deadly outbreak of all time, by some estimates, wiping out up to half of Europe’s population.
  • More than anything, it left a lasting impact on those who survived.
  • A couple of thousand plague cases are reported worldwide each year, mostly in Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Peru. Fatality is roughly 11 per cent.
Source- Indian Express

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