Encounters with plague: tracing and preventing illness

In Madagascar, where a severe plague epidemic has unfolded since August 2017, the number of new infections is finally in decline. WHO is supporting health authorities to respond to the outbreak, from setting up specialized plague treatment units in health centres, to distributing medicines across the country. A particularly effective action has involved training teams to find people who have been in contact with a pneumonic plague patient – a system known as "contact tracing" – to help ensure these contacts are protected from falling sick themselves. Rakoto,* a 17-year-old man from Antananarivo, began feeling sick one day in October. Although he was coughing and spitting up blood for several days, Rakoto was reluctant to go to a health centre. The plague outbreak was in the news every day, and his family was concerned that he might be infected. When he eventually collapsed while visiting his aunt, Rakoto ’s father took him to a clinic.
Source: WHO Feature Stories - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: plague [subject], bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, plague [subject], bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, African Region [region], Feature [doctype], Madagascar [country] Source Type: news