Pneumonic Plague Outbreak in China

While the world is focused on a relatively mild form of influenza, the H1N1 outbreak, other serious diseases lurk in the background.

As of August 3, an outbreak of the Pneumonic Plague in China has the police and military isolating a community of 10,000. The World Health Organization states that the Pneumonic Plague is one of the most deadly infectious diseases often killing people within 24 hours of onset. It is spread through droplets such as through coughing.

"This form of pneumonic plague is probably the least common but the most severe," said WHO's spokeswoman in China, Vivian Tan. "It has a very high fatality rate and generally spreads quite easily. So we're certainly concerned about the situation."

More information is available through the Associated Press at:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_PLAGUE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-08-03-15-09-53