Since 23 August 2017 Madagascar has been experiencing an outbreak of plague, and as of 3 October 2017, 194 cases and 30 deaths (case fatality rate 15.5%) have been reported.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 29 October-4 November 2017 and includes updates on chikungunya, Legionnaires' disease, malaria, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), influenza A(H7N9), plague, poliomyelitis, seasonal influenza and West Nile virus.
A case of bubonic plague can be suspected on aircraft or ships when a passenger or a crew member leaving an affected area has a fever associated with swollen lymph nodes.
Since 23 August 2017 there is an ongoing epidemic of plague in Madagascar. As of 20 October 2017 WHO has reported 1 365 cases and 106 deaths leading to 8 % case fatality. Nine hundred and fifteen (67%) cases are pneumonic plague cases. The high proportion of pneumonic plague among cases is of concern, indicating that droplet transmission is a driver of the spread of plague in Madagascar beyond the areas that have been considered as endemic for bubonic plague to date. In the last weeks, the number of new confirmed cases seem to be plateauing, indicating that the outbreak is gradually being controlled.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 23-28 October 2017 and includes updates on chikungunya, dengue fever, Zika virus, influenza, yellow fever, plague and malaria.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 15-21 October 2017 and includes updates on West Nile virus, chikungunya, influenza, Legionnaires' disease and plague.