About the disease
What is pneumonic plague?
Plague is a bacterial infection caused by Yersinia pestis. It usually lives in small mammals and their fleas. Pneumonic plague is the form that infects the lungs, and it is the most serious form of the disease.
Sources: World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
How it spreads
Pneumonic plague is the only form of plague that can pass directly from person to person. It spreads when someone breathes in infectious respiratory droplets from a sick person or animal. The other two forms, bubonic and septicemic plague, usually spread through flea bites and do not pass between people.
Sources: World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Symptoms
- It starts with fever, headache, and weakness.
- A pneumonia develops quickly, with shortness of breath and chest pain.
- It brings a cough that sometimes produces bloody or watery mucus.
Symptoms can appear as soon as one day after exposure.
Treatment
Common antibiotics are effective against plague, and early treatment saves lives. The World Health Organization says recovery is far more likely when treatment begins within 24 hours of the first symptoms. Without treatment, pneumonic plague is always fatal and can kill within 18 to 24 hours of the illness starting.
Source: World Health Organization
Vaccines
The World Health Organization does not recommend plague vaccination for the general public. It recommends vaccination only for high risk groups, such as laboratory staff who are regularly exposed to the bacteria.
Source: World Health Organization
The risk right now
The World Health Organization has assessed the risk as moderate to low for Irkutsk, low for the rest of Russia, and very low for Europe. No plague case has been confirmed in connection with the current reports, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said there were no reports of secondary cases.
Plague still occurs naturally in parts of the world. Since the 1990s, most human cases have been reported in Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.
Sources: The Guardian, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, World Health Organization
If you feel sick
If you have a fever and a worsening cough and believe you may have been exposed, contact a doctor or your local health department right away and tell them about the possible exposure. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
This site is not medical advice. Always follow your doctor and your local health authority.