GENEVA: An outbreak of plague has killed 40 people in Madagascar, the World Health Organisation has said, warning that the disease could spread rapidly in the country’s densely populated capital Antananarivo.
The first victim was identified on August 31 in a district to the west of the capital, and died three days later, the UN health agency said in a statement on Friday.
By mid-November, some 119 plague cases had been confirmed, with two percent of them of the pneumonic strain — one of the deadliest infectious diseases with a very high mortality rate.
Plague mostly affects rats and is spread by fleas, but humans can also contract the disease if they are bitten by an infected flea.
The situation in Madagascar is all the more worrying because of a high level of resistance to insecticides targeting fleas, the UN health agency said.AFP
