40 dead in Madagascar plague outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that a recent outbreak of bubonic plague has occurred in Madagascar and has so far killed 40 people.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Including the 40 dead, there have been 119 confirmed cases of the disease in the nation's capital, Antananarivo.

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One of the leading causes of the outbreak is the fleas, who have high resistance against leading insecticides.

Infected fleas, riding rodents, bite humans, and are the leading cause of infection.

Normally, early diagnosis can lead to successful treatment with antibiotics, but 2% of the new cases are the more dangerous pneumonic form of the disease, which more easily spreads via person-to-person.

"There is now a risk of rapid spread of the disease due to the city's high population and the weakness of the healthcare system," the WHO warned. "The situation is further complicated by the high level of resistance to deltamethrin (in insecticide used to control fleas) that has been observed in the country."

In 2013, health experts had warned that the island could face a plague epidemic unless it acted to slow or halt the spread of the disease. The rat-infested jails made the spread to inmates easy, and from person-to-person from there.

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