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May 15, 2024 · Key points. Plague is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Plague occurs naturally in areas of the western United States, where it circulates among wild rodents and other animals. Plague can be cured with antibiotics, but treatment must be given quickly.
- Signs and Symptoms
- Where Is Plague Found?
- Diagnosing Plague
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Vaccination
- Managing Plague Outbreaks
- Surveillance and Control
- Who Response
People infected with plague usually develop acute febrile disease with other non-specific systemic symptoms after an incubation period of one to seven days, such as sudden onset of fever, chills, head and body aches, and weakness, vomiting and nausea. There are two main forms of plague infection, depending on the route of infection: bubonic and pne...
As an animal disease, plague is found in all continents, except Oceania. There is a risk of human plague wherever the presence of plague natural foci (the bacteria, an animal reservoir and a vector) and human population co-exist. 1. Global distribution of natural plague foci as of March 2016 Plague epidemics have occurred in Africa, Asia, and South...
Confirmation of plague requires lab testing. The best practice is to identify Y. pestis from a sample of pus from a bubo, blood or sputum. A specific Y. pestis antigen can be detected by different techniques. One of them is a laboratory validated rapid dipstick test now widely used in Africa and South America, with the support of WHO.
Untreated pneumonic plague can be rapidly fatal, so early diagnosis and treatment is essential for survival and reduction of complications. Antibiotics and supportive therapy are effective against plague if patients are diagnosed in time. Pneumonic plague can be fatal within 18 to 24 hours of disease onset if left untreated, but common antibiotics ...
Preventive measures include informing people when zoonotic plague is present in their environment and advising them to take precautions against flea bites and not to handle animal carcasses. Generally people should be advised to avoid direct contact with infected body fluids and tissues. When handling potentially infected patients and collecting sp...
WHO does not recommend vaccination, except for high-risk groups (such as laboratory personnel who are constantly exposed to the risk of contamination, and health care workers).
Find and stop the source of infection.Identify the most likely source of infection in the area where the human case(s) was exposed, typically looking for clustered areas with large numbers of small...Protect health workers.Inform and train them on infection prevention and control. Workers in direct contact with pneumonic plague patients must wear standard precautions and receive a chemoprophyla...Ensure correct treatment:Verify that patients are being given appropriate antibiotic treatment and that local supplies of antibiotics are adequate.Isolate patients with pneumonic plague.Patients should be isolated so as not to infect others via air droplets. Providing masks for pneumonic patients can reduce spread.Surveillance and control requires investigating animal and flea species implicated in the plague cycle in the region and developing environmental management programmes to understand the natural zoonosis of the disease cycle and to limit spread. Active long-term surveillance of animal foci, coupled with a rapid response during animal outbreaks has s...
WHO aims to prevent plague outbreaks by maintaining surveillance and supporting at-risk countries to prepare. As the type of animal reservoir differs according to the region and influences the risk and conditions of human transmission, WHO has developed specific guidelines for the Indian sub-continent, South-America and Sub-Saharan Africa. WHO work...
5 days ago · Yersinia pestis, bacterium in the family Yersiniaceae (order Enterobacterales) that causes plague. Yersinia pestis is classified as a Gram-negative coccobacillus, being spherical to cylindrical in shape and having a thin peptidoglycan cell wall surrounded by an outer lipopolysaccharide membrane.
- Kara Rogers
Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis; formerly Pasteurella pestis) is a gram-negative, non-motile, coccobacillus bacterium without spores that is related to both Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, the pathogen from which Y. pestis evolved and responsible for the Far East scarlet-like fever.
Apr 20, 2023 · Overview. Plague is a serious illness caused by a germ called Yersinia pestis. The germs mostly live in small rodents and their fleas. The most common way for humans to get plague is a flea bite. Plague is a rare disease. The illness mostly occurs in only a few countries around the world.
Dec 9, 2020 · The Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis is responsible for deadly plague, a zoonotic disease established in stable foci in the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia. Its persistence in the environment relies on the subtle balance between Y. pestis -contaminated soils, burrowing and nonburrowing mammals exhibiting variable degrees of plague ...
Apr 3, 2019 · Plague is a vector-borne disease caused by Yersinia pestis. Transmitted by fleas from rodent reservoirs, Y. pestis emerged <6000 years ago from an enteric bacterial ancestor through events...
