2014 Madagascar plague outbreak

2014 Madagascar plague outbreak

Date	August 31, 2014 (2014-08-31) – present
Location	Madagascar
Cause	bubonic and pneumonic plague
Outcome	119 confirmed cases
Deaths	40
as of 16 November 2014

The ongoing outbreak of plague in Madagascar in 2014 started on 31 August. On that day the first case, a male from Soamahatamana village in Tsiroanomandidy, was identified.^[1] The patient died on 3 September.^[1] The outbreak is in the form of bubonic and pneumonic plague. As of 16 November 2014, a total of 119 cases have been confirmed, including 40 deaths.^[1] Two percent of reported cases are of the pneumonic form.^[1] As of 21 November, in the capital Antananarivo there have been two confirmed cases, including one death.^[2]

While plague is not very common in many parts of the world, Madagascar reports anywhere from 300 to 600 reported cases per year (80% of the world’s bubonic plague cases). Typically these cases appear sometime between October and March. ^[3]

On 4 November 2014, the Ministry of Health of Madagascar reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization.^[1]

Potential facilitating factors

A severe threat with the potential to facilitate the rapid spread of plague in Madagascar is the large numbers of rats in the country's prisons. If plague-carrying fleas were to infest these rats, they would inevitably infect prisoners, prison guards and visitors, which in turn would threaten the health of the general population.^[4]

NGOs are working together with the Madagascar government in an attempt to eliminate the danger.^[5]

References