Bubonic Plague outbreak kills nearly 50 people in Madagascar

Daily Mail.

Don't like Daily Mail? Fine, here's Fox News.

Holy shit, where does it end?

An outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar has now claimed almost 50 victims and is spreading to the island's capital, officials warned today.

There have been 138 suspected cases of the disease - similar to the Black Death in medieval Europe - since the start of the year, with the death toll of 47 expected to rise in the coming months.

Two people have been infected in the capital of Antananarivo, one of them dying, and health workers have mounted a pest control campaign through slum areas around the city.

The situation in Madagascar is all the more worrying because of a high level of resistance to insecticides targeting fleas, the United Nations health agency said.

Let the witch burning commence!

Only 50?

lol, never go to africa

There are a few thousand cases of this reported each year...it isn't just now reappearing after hundreds of years.

Should be included on the next Madagascar movie, kids need to know the truth.

Africa has to be the worst place to live if you're a human being on the planet earth.

@ReadingRainbow4: I vote for North Korea, actually.

Yes, but this outbreak is spreading a bit quicker and in greater amounts in a concentrated area than usual.

Again more people died yesterday from food allergies, or choking. or smoking, or car accidents then the whole of people killed by the damn plague throughout human recorded history.

wtf, have they not heard of penicillin?

is it some kind of antibiotic resistant strain?

if it's not there is no excuse for such incompetence in dealing with a germ that the most basic anitbiotics can wipe out.

and to think most of us live in areas where anti-biotics are over prescribed and should be used way less than they are.

still, where the hell is the world health organization when you need them?

probably busy going after electronic cigarettes.

Oh great now I get to hear about another plague in the media for weeks on end........wait not America? It's cool no need to cover it.

Basic hygiene will prevent it's spread.

From what I've read; the infected need to get the antibiotics within 24 hours of symptoms. Otherwise chances of survival diminish greatly. Now lets think about it, who goes to the doctor on the first day of symptoms? Since, it is becoming wide spread (well at least in Madagascar for now) the people there should start to learn to go get treated right away when they see signs of infections.

sure away from the western craze , nice weather and people that are down to earth

must be real bad

I saw this on VICE a short while back...

I mean, I've heard a bit about animals carrying the plague and/or plague flees popping up here in the US, just last year I heard it popped up in CA state parks or wilderness just a relatively short distance where I lived, being carried by squirrels. The Japanese experimented with it extensively on the civilian population at Unit 731 in Japanese occupied China during WW2, were even close to launching biological weapon delivery with flees carried in balloons to infect the United States which was about to go into effect but stopped due to the nuclear attacks on Japan.