Epidemiologic Features of Four Successive Annual Outbreaks of Bubonic Plague in Mahajanga, Madagascar | Zendy

P. Boisier | Zendy; Lila Rahalison | Zendy; M. Rasolomaharo | Zendy; Maherisoa Ratsitorahina | Zendy; Mahafaly Mahafaly | Zendy; Maminirana Razafimahefa | Zendy; JeanMarc Duplantier | Zendy; Lala Ratsifasoamanana | Zendy; S Chanteau | Zendy

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Epidemiologic Features of Four Successive Annual Outbreaks of Bubonic Plague in Mahajanga, Madagascar

Author(s) -

P. Boisier,

Lila Rahalison,

M. Rasolomaharo,

Maherisoa Ratsitorahina,

Mahafaly Mahafaly,

Maminirana Razafimahefa,

JeanMarc Duplantier,

Lala Ratsifasoamanana,

S Chanteau

Publication year - 2002

Publication title -

emerging infectious diseases

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.54

H-Index - 226

eISSN - 1080-6059

pISSN - 1080-6040

DOI - 10.3201/eid0803.010250

Subject(s) - yersinia pestis , outbreak , plague (disease) , incidence (geometry) , case fatality rate , veterinary medicine , epidemiology , isolation (microbiology) , public health , medicine , geography , virology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , virulence , pathology , biochemistry , physics , gene , optics

From 1995 to 1998, outbreaks of bubonic plague occurred annually in the coastal city of Mahajanga, Madagascar. A total of 1,702 clinically suspected cases of bubonic plague were reported, including 515 laboratory confirmed by Yersinia pestis isolation (297), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or both. Incidence was higher in males and young persons. Most buboes were inguinal, but children had a higher frequency of cervical or axillary buboes. Among laboratory-confirmed hospitalized patients, the case-fatality rate was 7.9%, although all Y. pestis isolates were sensitive to streptomycin, the recommended antibiotic. In this tropical city, plague outbreaks occur during the dry and cool season. Most cases are concentrated in the same crowded and unsanitary districts, a result of close contact among humans, rats, and shrews. Plague remains an important public health problem in Madagascar, and the potential is substantial for spread to other coastal cities and abroad.

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