Madagascar hit by 'pneumonic and bubonic plague'

An ICRC-led programme is working to reduce prison rat populations

Two cases of pneumonic plague - more deadly than bubonic plague - have been reported in Madagascar, a health official has told the BBC.

It comes after it was confirmed that there was a deadly outbreak of the bubonic plague in a village in the north-west of the island.

Pneumonic plague can be inhaled and transmitted between humans without involvement of animals or fleas.

It is the most virulent and least common form of plague.

Bubonic and pneumonic plagues are both caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the primary difference being the location of the infection; bubonic plague refers to an infection of the lymphatic system, pneumonic plague an infection of the respiratory system. Via the BBC
Above: Yersinia pestis, by Rocky Mountain Laboratories/AP via Wikimedia Commons

It can kill within 24 hours.

'Most deaths'
Bubonic plague hit a village near Madagascar's north-western town of Mandritsara last week.

At least 20 people were reported to have died.

The plague is spread because of poor hygiene

The Pasteur Institute of Madagascar confirmed on Tuesday that tests taken from some bodies in the village, near the north-western town of Mandritsara, last week showed that they had died of the plague.

However, it did not say how many people had died.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria that occur in bubonic plague - the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.

But while bubonic plague is usually transmitted by flea bites and can be treated with antibiotics, pneumonic plague is easier to contract and if untreated, has a very high case-fatality ratio, experts say.

Madagascar's health ministry director-general Dr Herlyne Ramihantaniarivo confirmed to the BBC that two cases of the plague had been reported.

Last year, Madagascar had 60 deaths from bubonic plague, the world's highest recorded number.

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned in October that Madagascar was at risk of a plague epidemic.

The BBC's Tim Healy in the capital, Antananarivo, says health officials have now gone to the remote area to investigate.

Prisoners on the island are usually most affected by bubonic plague, which is spread because of unhygienic conditions, he says.

The prevalence of rats in Madagascar's prisons means the plague can spread easily.

The Pasteur Institute said there were concerns that the disease could spread to towns and cities where living standards have declined since a coup in 2009 and the ensuing political crisis.

On 20 December a second round is being held of presidential elections aimed at ending the political deadlock.

Madagascar's prisons are overcrowded and dirty, the ICRC says

ORIGINAL: BBC

11 December 2013

The greatest extermination of rats the World has ever known

ORIGINAL: SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany) by Worldcrunch

Located some 1,800 kilometers off the coast of South America, South Georgia Island has no permanent human residents – but millions of rats. The rodents first made their way to this south Atlantic island on whaling boats in the 18th century and, feeding on sea birds, proliferated quickly.

No one can say exactly how many million rats currently live on South Georgia, which is 167.4 km (104 miles) long and 37 km (23 miles) at its widest point. Whatever the figure, it’s too high in the view of the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) because of the danger the rats represent to the millions of birds who make this island their home. The rats feed on young birds and eggs.

So the SGHT has embarked on a course to free the island of the rodents in what is the greatest extermination of rats the world has ever known.

In early 2013, helicopters are due to inundate parts of the island with grain bait containing two to six-and-a-half kilograms of brodifacoum per hectare. No one doubts the collateral damage of this action – including the deaths of some of the very birds the extermination aims to protect -- but the SGHT sees no alternatives as the rats will soon cover the entire island including areas that until now have been safe for birds.

Stefan Ziegler, a WWF biologist, told Süddeutsche Zeitung that from a natural conservation point of view he supports the planned action, but "the question is whether or not it will be successful. All you need is a couple of rats surviving and in a couple of years’ time you’re back where you started.”

Project leader Tony Martin of the University of Dundee says he and his team will consider the extermination a success if in two years’ time there is no sign of rats on the island. A trial conducted on a section of the island in the past year has so far proven successful.