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Plague |
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Plague is a disease caused by Yersinia pestis, a naturally-occurring bacterium found in many areas
around the world, including the United States. There are several forms of plague, including pneumonic, bubonic, and
septicemic plague.
- Pneumonic plague occurs when Y. pestis infects the lungs, and is the most deadly form of the disease.
This type of plague can spread from person to person through the air. Transmission can take place if someone
breathes in aerosolized bacteria, which could happen in a bioterrorist attack. Pneumonic plague is also spread
by breathing in Y. pestis suspended in respiratory droplets from a person (or animal) with pneumonic plague.
Direct and close contact with the ill person or animal is necessary for respiratory transmission. Pneumonic plague may also occur
if a person with bubonic or septicemic plague is untreated and the bacteria spread to the lungs.
- Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague. This occurs when an infected flea bites a person or when materials
contaminated with Y. pestis enter through a break in a person's skin. Patients develop swollen, tender lymph glands
(called buboes) and fever, headache, chills, and weakness. Bubonic plague does not spread from person to person.
- Septicemic plague occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood. It can be a complication of pneumonic or bubonic
plague or it can occur by itself. When it occurs alone, it is caused in the same ways as bubonic plague; however, buboes
do not develop. Patients have fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into skin and other organs.
Septicemic plague does not spread from person to person.
The last plague epidemic in the United States occurred in Los Angeles in 1924. Since then, all
human plague cases in the U.S. have been sporadic cases acquired from wild rodents or their fleas or from direct contact
with plague-infected animals. The following references aid in recognizing disease characteristics and hazards associated with plague.
- CDC Plague Home Page.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases.
Provides basic disease information on plague, including a fact sheet, questions and answers, images, natural history, diagnosis, epidemiology, prevention and control, scientific literature, and more.
- Public
Health Image Library (PHIL).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Offers several images related to plague that include descriptions.
- Plague.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHOCC). Offers an introduction to plague and
its global distribution and provides information on WHOCC and their role in
the prevention of plague.
- Plague.
World Health Organization (WHO) Health Topics. Provides information on plague, including
a fact sheet, disease outbreak information, publications, and related links.
- WHO Report on Global Surveillance of Epidemic-prone Infectious Diseases – Chapter 3: Plague.
World Health Organization (WHO), Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance
and Response, (2000), 206 KB
PDF, 15 pages. Includes the background and history of plague, as well as information about disease
transmission and trends.
- Current Description of Plague.
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Public Health, Department
of Epidemiology. Provides basic information on
plague, including identification, infectious agent, global occurrence,
reservoir, mode of transmission, incubation period, communicability,
susceptibility and resistance, methods of control, and more. Adapted from the
Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, American Public Health Association (APHA),
(2000).
- Plague Manual: Epidemiology, Distribution, Surveillance and Control.
World Health Organization (WHO), Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, (1999).
Provides links to PDF documents that contain the comprehensive WHO manual on plague disease.
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