Four dead, 20 quarantined in Zambia mystery disease

[Dutchy]

Four dead, 20 quarantined in Zambia mystery disease: minister


LUSAKA (AFP) — Four people have died and 20 others were put under quarantine following the outbreak of an unknown disease in southern Zambia, the health minister announced Tuesday.

Brian Chituwo said the government has dispatched medical experts to investigate the cause of the disease and assess the situation in Namwala, a small town in the southern province of Zambia.

"The four died before the medical team arrived in the area," Chituwo said.

The 20 patients have been quarantined in an effort to contain the spread of the disease, which has symptoms of vomiting and backache, the minister said.

Chituwo said the disease was detected last Sunday by local medical practitioners following the death of the four patients.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...qsQ4YpznJ7x7tw

[Dutchy]

Medical Team Probes Mysterious Disease

The Times of Zambia (Ndola)

27 November 2007

A TEAM of medical experts has been sent to Namwala in Southern Province to investigate a mysterious disease with symptoms of vomiting and backache which has so far killed four people.

Health Minister, Brian Chituwo said that the Government was concerned about the disease hence its decision to send experts to investigate the disease.

Dr Chituwo who was speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday said that 20 people had been quarantined since the investigations commenced on Sunday afternoon.

The minister said all the four victims died before the arrival of the team of medical experts.

Dr Chituwo said the team sent comprised nurses, doctors and other experts from Namwala and other staff were on standby in Lusaka, ready to join their counterparts if need arose.

Namwala member of Parliament, Robby Chizhyuka, commended the Government for its quick response to the reported disease in Namwala.

Maj Chizhyuka said the prompt response by the Health ministry was commendable.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711270013.html

[Dutchy]

Zambia mystery disease could be pneumonic plague: official

LUSAKA (AFP) — A mysterious disease which broke out in the south of Zambia, killing four people, is now suspected to be pneumonic plague, the health ministry said Friday.

Ministry of health spokesman Canicius Banda said preliminary findings indicate that the disease that has killed four people and affected over 60 patients could be pneumonic plague but the findings were not yet conclusive.

"Our preliminary findings point to pneumonia plague," Banda said.

Four people died and 64 others were put under quarantine last week following the outbreak of the disease in Namwala, a small town in a southern province of Zambia.

Banda said the movement of people in the area had been banned with immediate effect in order to contain the disease, which had symptoms of vomiting and backache.

Medical experts had also begun spraying all the houses in the area to get rid of fleas and rodents suspected to be spreading the disease.

The government has also urged people in Namwala to be calm after word went round that the disease could be the deadly Ebola virus, prompting panic.

"We have carried out the tests and it is not Ebola. People should not panic, the situation is under control," Health Minister Brian Chituwo said.

Pneumonic plague, which is fatal if left untreated, develops when plague bacteria infect the lungs, and can cause a public health emergency due to its high degree of contagion.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...g1raaI2bWSiyIA

[vinny]

is pneumonic plague an airborn virus..................?

[hawkeye]

CDC: Facts about Pneumonic Plague

Plague is an infectious disease that affects animals and humans. It is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This bacterium is found in rodents and their fleas and occurs in many areas of the world, including the United States.

Y. pestis is easily destroyed by sunlight and drying. Even so, when released into air, the bacterium will survive for up to one hour, although this could vary depending on conditions.

Pneumonic plague is one of several forms of plague. Depending on circumstances, these forms may occur separately or in combination:

* Pneumonic plague occurs when Y. pestis infects the lungs. This type of plague can spread from person to person through the air. Transmission can take place if someone breathes in aerosolized bacteria, which could happen in a bioterrorist attack. Pneumonic plague is also spread by breathing in Y. pestis suspended in respiratory droplets from a person (or animal) with pneumonic plague. Becoming infected in this way usually requires direct and close contact with the ill person or animal. Pneumonic plague may also occur if a person with bubonic or septicemic plague is untreated and the bacteria spread to the lungs.
* Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague. This occurs when an infected flea bites a person or when materials contaminated with Y. pestis enter through a break in a person's skin. Patients develop swollen, tender lymph glands (called buboes) and fever, headache, chills, and weakness. Bubonic plague does not spread from person to person.
* Septicemic plague occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood. It can be a complication of pneumonic or bubonic plague or it can occur by itself. When it occurs alone, it is caused in the same ways as bubonic plague; however, buboes do not develop. Patients have fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into skin and other organs. Septicemic plague does not spread from person to person.

Symptoms and Treatment

With pneumonic plague, the first signs of illness are fever, headache, weakness, and rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery sputum. The pneumonia progresses for 2 to 4 days and may cause respiratory failure and shock. Without early treatment, patients may die.

Early treatment of pneumonic plague is essential. To reduce the chance of death, antibiotics must be given within 24 hours of first symptoms. Streptomycin, gentamicin, the tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol are all effective against pneumonic plague.

Antibiotic treatment for 7 days will protect people who have had direct, close contact with infected patients. Wearing a close-fitting surgical mask also protects against infection.

A plague vaccine is not currently available for use in the United States.

[Anne]

yes, air transmission when it is the pulmonary plague
it's very dangerious, and quick.
but we have antibiotics againts plague.