Evergreen medical profile

Plague

This page is medical background from WHO/CDC citations. It is not current-event intelligence.

Pathogen

Yersinia pestis

Transmission

Bubonic plague is typically transmitted by infected fleas from rodents. Pneumonic plague can spread person-to-person via respiratory droplets. Laboratory exposure is a documented occupational risk.

Incubation

Usually 1–7 days (WHO).

Typical symptoms

Fever, chills, headache, weakness. Bubonic: painful swollen lymph nodes. Pneumonic: rapidly developing pneumonia, cough, chest pain.

Treatment

Treatable with antibiotics if started early (WHO/CDC).

Vaccine

No widely available routine vaccine for the general public (CDC).

Historical fatality

Historically high; modern treated case-fatality is much lower. Pneumonic plague is fatal if untreated.

Authoritative sources

• https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague
• https://www.cdc.gov/plague/about/index.html

Current and historical events

• Suspected plague-related laboratory incident under investigation in Irkutsk OblastIrkutsk Oblast
• Madagascar plague outbreak, 2017Madagascar · HISTORICAL