The bubonic plague, or just "the plague," as it is often called, is primarily spread through fleas, which get it from rats. This general form of the plague can rather easily be treated by antibiotics.
Once the plague reaches the lungs, however, a patient can quickly develop pneumonia, and then it becomes pneumonic plague. Once this occurs, it can easily be transmitted from person to person through droplets from coughing. It becomes one of the most infectious diseases known, and people can die from it within just 24 hours.
In Madagascar, the flooding has also caused rats to move, and this puts people in closer contact with fleas. This will increase the number of cases of the plague. WHO indicates that eight percent of cases become the pneumonic plague variety - and it is now in the capital city.
An additional problem is that the rats have developed resistance to the most popular rat poison. With tens of thousands of people displaced, and countless rats, the prognosis is not good. The plague will certainly be spreading even more in Madagascar.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/plague-cases-rise-madagascar-fear-more-epidemics-134852957.html
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Graphics: Mine
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Keywords: plague, bubonic plague, Madagascar, pneumonic plague, flooding, rats