MADAGASCAR: Plague kills 124, cities most affected

A plague epidemic in Madagascar has killed 124 people since August in an outbreak that has hit the island’s two main cities the hardest, the authorities said. Plague is endemic in Madagascar, but the outbreak that has caused 1,192 suspected cases since August is especially worrying because it started earlier in the season than usual […]

A plague epidemic in Madagascar has killed 124 people since August in an outbreak that has hit the island’s two main cities the hardest, the authorities said.

Plague is endemic in Madagascar, but the outbreak that has caused 1,192 suspected cases since August is especially worrying because it started earlier in the season than usual and has hit urban, rather than rural areas.

Its symptoms are flu-like – fever, chills, body aches, nausea, vomiting, and swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin, neck or armpits.

There are three major types of plague: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Two-thirds of the cases are of the pneumonic plague.