10-24-2017, 09:23 PM
*** 25-Oct-17 World View -- Kenya closes border with Madagascar as Black Plague epidemic spreads
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Pneumonic plague (Black plague) spreads rapidly in Madagascar
****
![[Image: g171024b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171024b.jpg)
Children are required to wear face masks at school in Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital city (AP)
Health officials from around the world are converging on the island of
Madagascar in an attempt to control an extremely dangerous and rapidly
spreading epidemic of the Black Plague before it becomes an
international threat.
Since August 1 until Monday, the World Health Organization has
registered 1,365 possible case of plague, with about half of them
confirmed or considered probable. Over 100 people have been reported
killed by the plague.
There are actually two separate epidemics in progress, with different
forms of the plague.
About 1/3 of the cases are Bubonic Plague. This form of the plague is
fairly common in Madagascar, recurring each year but usually claiming
few lives. This form of the plague is carried by rats and then
transferred to humans by fleas that bite the rats and then bite the
humans. This form is usually confined to remote rural areas, and is
triggered by the wide-spread ‘slash and burn’ practice as rats which
carry the fleas carrying the bacteria Yersinia pestis move towards
habitation locations, thereby facilitating human infection through
flea bites, according to the United Nations.
What's different this year is the rapid spread of the most virulent
form, Pneumonic Plague or Plague Pneumonia. Unlike Bubonic Plague,
Pneumonic Plague is spread through the air from person to person, and
is highly contagious. Pneumonic Plague spreads rapidly through
heavily populated urban areas, and there have been 846 possible cases
registered by WHO so far, particularly the capital city Antananarivo,
and two coastal towns of Tamatave and Mahajunga. If the infection is
not diagnosed and treated immediately, death occurs within one-three
days. The epidemic has not yet reached its peak, according to CDC
officials.
The Black Death is thought to have killed around 25 million in Europe
in the late 1340s, and 100 million people worldwide. CDC
and United Nations ReliefWeb and The Sun (London)
****
**** Kenya increase border security from Madagascar because of plague epidemic
****
Madagascar is an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa in
the Indian Ocean. World Health Organization (WHO) officials are
trying to prevent the epidemic from spreading to nearby nations on the
African mainland.
Kenya has taken immediate action to prevent the spread, according to a
statement from the Ministry of Health:
<QUOTE>"The World Health Organization has notified the
Ministry of Health of a confirmed ongoing plague epidemic in
Madagascar. The cases have been reported from eighteen out of 22
regions in the country including traditionally non endemic areas.
In view of the above information, it is necessary that the health
care system in the country initiates preparedness and response
measures to prevent spread to the country and to promptly detect,
notify and appropriately manage any suspected cases in the
community or in health facilities if the outbreak spreads to
Kenya.
Specifically, all county health management teams, sub-county
health management teams, hospital health management teams, health
workers in hospitals and those at points of entry are asked to
look out for patients with acute onset of fever, chills, headache,
severe malaise, chest pain and difficulty in
breathing."<END QUOTE>
WHO has classified the event as a Grade 2 emergency. Over 4,400
community health workers are carrying out contact tracing activities
in Madagascar, being supervised by 340 medical doctors and students.
Once a person is diagnosed with the infection, "contact tracing"
refers to locating all people that the infected person had contact
with. In addition, surveillance activities at airports and ports are
being strengthened.
According to the WHO, there is a risk of regional spread due to the
occurrence of frequent travel by air and sea to neighboring Indian
Ocean islands and other southern and east African countries. This risk
is mitigated by the short incubation period of pneumonic plague,
implementation of exit screening measures in Madagascar, and scaling
up of preparedness and operational readiness activities in neighboring
Indian Ocean islands and other southern and east African
countries. The overall global risk is considered to be low. Capital News (Kenya) and Citizen TV (Kenya) and World Health Organization
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Bubonic plague, Pneumonic Plague, Black Death,
Yersinia pestis, Madagascar, Antananarivo, Tamatave, Mahajunga
World Health Organization, WHO, Kenya
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Pneumonic plague (Black plague) spreads rapidly in Madagascar
- Kenya increase border security from Madagascar because of plague epidemic
****
**** Pneumonic plague (Black plague) spreads rapidly in Madagascar
****
Children are required to wear face masks at school in Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital city (AP)
Health officials from around the world are converging on the island of
Madagascar in an attempt to control an extremely dangerous and rapidly
spreading epidemic of the Black Plague before it becomes an
international threat.
Since August 1 until Monday, the World Health Organization has
registered 1,365 possible case of plague, with about half of them
confirmed or considered probable. Over 100 people have been reported
killed by the plague.
There are actually two separate epidemics in progress, with different
forms of the plague.
About 1/3 of the cases are Bubonic Plague. This form of the plague is
fairly common in Madagascar, recurring each year but usually claiming
few lives. This form of the plague is carried by rats and then
transferred to humans by fleas that bite the rats and then bite the
humans. This form is usually confined to remote rural areas, and is
triggered by the wide-spread ‘slash and burn’ practice as rats which
carry the fleas carrying the bacteria Yersinia pestis move towards
habitation locations, thereby facilitating human infection through
flea bites, according to the United Nations.
What's different this year is the rapid spread of the most virulent
form, Pneumonic Plague or Plague Pneumonia. Unlike Bubonic Plague,
Pneumonic Plague is spread through the air from person to person, and
is highly contagious. Pneumonic Plague spreads rapidly through
heavily populated urban areas, and there have been 846 possible cases
registered by WHO so far, particularly the capital city Antananarivo,
and two coastal towns of Tamatave and Mahajunga. If the infection is
not diagnosed and treated immediately, death occurs within one-three
days. The epidemic has not yet reached its peak, according to CDC
officials.
The Black Death is thought to have killed around 25 million in Europe
in the late 1340s, and 100 million people worldwide. CDC
and United Nations ReliefWeb and The Sun (London)
****
**** Kenya increase border security from Madagascar because of plague epidemic
****
Madagascar is an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa in
the Indian Ocean. World Health Organization (WHO) officials are
trying to prevent the epidemic from spreading to nearby nations on the
African mainland.
Kenya has taken immediate action to prevent the spread, according to a
statement from the Ministry of Health:
<QUOTE>"The World Health Organization has notified the
Ministry of Health of a confirmed ongoing plague epidemic in
Madagascar. The cases have been reported from eighteen out of 22
regions in the country including traditionally non endemic areas.
In view of the above information, it is necessary that the health
care system in the country initiates preparedness and response
measures to prevent spread to the country and to promptly detect,
notify and appropriately manage any suspected cases in the
community or in health facilities if the outbreak spreads to
Kenya.
Specifically, all county health management teams, sub-county
health management teams, hospital health management teams, health
workers in hospitals and those at points of entry are asked to
look out for patients with acute onset of fever, chills, headache,
severe malaise, chest pain and difficulty in
breathing."<END QUOTE>
WHO has classified the event as a Grade 2 emergency. Over 4,400
community health workers are carrying out contact tracing activities
in Madagascar, being supervised by 340 medical doctors and students.
Once a person is diagnosed with the infection, "contact tracing"
refers to locating all people that the infected person had contact
with. In addition, surveillance activities at airports and ports are
being strengthened.
According to the WHO, there is a risk of regional spread due to the
occurrence of frequent travel by air and sea to neighboring Indian
Ocean islands and other southern and east African countries. This risk
is mitigated by the short incubation period of pneumonic plague,
implementation of exit screening measures in Madagascar, and scaling
up of preparedness and operational readiness activities in neighboring
Indian Ocean islands and other southern and east African
countries. The overall global risk is considered to be low. Capital News (Kenya) and Citizen TV (Kenya) and World Health Organization
Related Articles
- Madagascar faces a locust invasion of Biblical proportions (30-Oct-2013)
- In a fragile world, a swine flu pandemic would have geopolitical consequences (27-Apr-2009)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Bubonic plague, Pneumonic Plague, Black Death,
Yersinia pestis, Madagascar, Antananarivo, Tamatave, Mahajunga
World Health Organization, WHO, Kenya
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
