Plague In Madagascar Kills 40

If this was already posted please take it down.

Here's something interesting I found from my daily excursions onto journalism sites: Supposedly an outbreak of the plague has been reported in Madagascar. Reuters took the story down or something happened with it:

Madagascar Plague

21 November 2014 - On 4 November 2014, WHO was notified by the Ministry of Health of Madagascar of an outbreak of plague. The first case, a male from Soamahatamana village in the district of Tsiroanomandidy, was identified on 31 August. The patient died on 3 September. As of 16 November, a total of 119 cases of plague have been confirmed, including 40 deaths. Only 2% of reported cases are of the pneumonic form. Cases have been reported in 16 districts of seven regions. Antananarivo, the capital and largest city in Madagascar, has also been affected with 2 recorded cases of plague, including 1 death. There is now a risk of a rapid spread of the disease due to the city’s high population density and the weakness of the healthcare system. The situation is further complicated by the high level of resistance to deltamethrin (an insecticide used to control fleas) that has been observed in the country.

That's from the WHO's own site. 119 cases, 40 deaths. So far only 2 were pneumonic. People are worried because if it spreads there, the medical system isn't up to par and it's quite populated.

WHO Madagascar Plague

Hoping they get it under control. I always wanted to see the baobab trees in Madagascar. If not, I'm stuck trekking to Australia or South Africa.

ETA: I have found Reuters article about the situation:

Reuters Reports Madagascaran Plague

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

was just about to the post this....and its in the capital

Penicillin resistant?
That would be bad but otherwise not that big a problem.

But saying that i seem to remember china quarantining 30000 people not long ago because of plague, it seemed like a strange over reaction to something that penicillin would stop.

a reply to: joho99

This year there's been four kinds of plague in Colorado, it was in China (I believe they quarantined a village over it like you said), it's been in other countries.

Not to mention anthrax in beef in Europe and India, Ebola, Marburg, etc.

So are we more aware of these things because the media's reporting them more often or are they occurring with more frequency?

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

Probably a combination of the two.

More people to infect and more resistance plus news is almost instantaneous now days and they are not limited to print.

Found it on the independent

Plague outbreak in Madagascar kills 40 people out of 119 confirmed cases

At least 40 people have died out of 119 confirmed cases of an outbreak of the plague in Madagascar, raising fears the disease is spreading rapidly in the nation's capital, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed. .......

Vice News did a segment a little over a month ago about this. Check it out on Youtube "The Return of the Black Death"

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme


I hope the king of the lemurs is safe!

And the award for the "smallest feelings island in the world, just ask the locals" goes to Madagascar.. Man just imagine being on a little island with a serious disease on the verge of outbreak! The stress would be insane!

Edit to add: My heart goes out to you folks down there. Not to make light of the situation but I bet a smile would do someone in Madagascar good right now.

a reply to: mindseye1609

As fars islands go, Madagascar isn't one of The smaller ones. Madagascar is an island in the Same sense that Japan and Britain are islands. If you've gotta be on an island with plague Madagascar is one of ones I'd rather be on.

a reply to: jefwane

From what I read their healthcare is lacking. So I'd scratch that off the list of islands.

a reply to: jefwane

Ya know I just looked it up and I thought Madagascar was MUCH smaller then it is. I had Madagascar confused with socotra island off of Yemen. I reckon Madagascar is plenty big enough for only a couple hundred sick. Still not a good time but definitely not the stressful situation I was envisioning.

It happened last year too.

An outbreak of plague in November, 2013, occurred in the African island nation of Madagascar.[11] As of 16 December, at least 89 people were infected, with 39 deaths[12] with at least two cases involving pneumonic plague- however, it was reported later that as many as 90% of cases involved pneumonic plague.[13] The World Health Organisation and Institut Pasteur were both involved in administering antibiotic compounds and attempting to stop the spread of the disease, through closing all sea and airports at first instance of infection.

*snip*
Pneumonic plague is a very aggressive infection requiring early treatment. Antibiotics must be given within 24 hours of first symptoms to reduce the risk of death.[2] Streptomycin, gentamicin, tetracyclines and chloramphenicol are all effective against pneumonic plague.

Antibiotic treatment for 7 days will protect people who have had direct, close contact with infected patients. Wearing a close-fitting surgical mask also protects against infection.[2]

I'm not going to worry about this one but hope the people in need get treatment.

a reply to: StoutBroux

It's not the end of the world but I wonder why it's been occurring so much lately.