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[Plague in Zaire]

P G Janssens1, S R Pattyn

  • 1Prins Leopold Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, Antwerpen.

Verhandelingen - Koninklijke Academie Voor Geneeskunde Van Belgie
|January 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Plague persists in two endemic foci in Zaïre, with Yersinia pestis transmitted by fleas from rodents. Effective treatments and vaccinations offer practical recovery from this bacterial disease.

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Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Bacteriology
  • Zoonotic Diseases

Background:

  • Plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, presents distinct biovars with specific geographic distributions.
  • Rodents serve as the primary reservoir for Yersinia pestis, with transmission facilitated by infected fleas.

Observation:

  • Two endemic plague foci were identified in Zaïre in 1928 (Ituri) and 1938 (North-Kivu), adjacent to the Ugandan focus.
  • Between 1928 and 1959, 632 cases were reported in Ituri and 190 in North-Kivu, with subsequent flare-ups noted.
  • Yersinia pestis exhibits characteristics like iron-dependent virulence, glycerine fermentation, and nitrate reduction, aiding in biovar identification.

Findings:

  • The multimammate houserat was initially the primary host in Ituri, later supplanted by Rattus rattus, altering the rodent-host balance.

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  • Transmission occurs via fleas whose digestive tracts are blocked by Yersinia pestis, with humans acting as incidental hosts.
  • Zaïre's plague cases show a septicaemic tendency, potentially involving the central nervous system and lungs, leading to pneumonic plague.

    • Implications:

    • Clinical diagnosis requires confirmation through bacteriologic investigation of clinical samples.
    • Modern treatments, including sulfamides and antibiotics, ensure high recovery rates when administered promptly.
    • Vaccination strategies, from killed germs to live attenuated strains, have been implemented for plague prevention.