kcwildman
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- The WHO also remains adamant that cases are on the ‘decline in all active areas’ across the country.
It said on its website: ‘In the past two weeks, 12 previously affected districts reported no new confirmed or probable cases of pulmonary (pneumonic) plague.’
Bubonic plague, which is transmitted by flea bites and was responsible for the ‘Black Death’ in the 14th century, which killed 100 million people.
If left untreated, the Yersinia pestis bacteria can reach the lungs. This... is where it turns pneumonic – described as the ‘deadliest and most rapid form of plague’.
Pneumonic, which is much more serious, is spread through coughing, sneezing or spitting and can kill within 24 hours if untreated.
Health officials are unsure how this year's outbreak began, but local media report that forest fires have driven rats towards rural communities.
This is believed to have been the start of the bubonic outbreak, which then develops into the more virulent pneumonic form which spreads rapidly without treatment.