Sylvatic Plague

By: Josh Berryman

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Really graphic pictures

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Definition

• Sylvatic Plague - the disease of wild rats, ground squirrels, mice, marmots, owls, gophers, badgers, rabbits, prairie dogs and chipmunks, also known as the Bubonic Plague.

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sylvatic+plague

So what Is It?

Bubonic Plague is a potentially fatal bacterial disease called “Yersina pestis”

Symptoms of infection include:• Swollen, tender lymph nodes• High fever• Chills• Headache• Hemorrhages under the skin, causing blackish

discoloration of the skin.

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/bubonicplague/a/111602.htm

How Is It Spread?

• Bubonic plague is not usually spread from person to person. Small rodents, such as rats, mice and squirrels, carry the infection. Fleas that live on these animals act as "vectors" and carry the infection from the rodent to humans. People may get exposed to the bacteria from flea bites or from direct contact with an infected animal.

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/bubonicplague/a/111602.htm

Who Is At Greater Risk?

• There are known cases in Australia or Europe. Areas where cases occur are in Russia, The Middle East, China, SW and SE Asia, Madagascar, Southern and Eastern Africa, the Andes Mountains and Brazil.

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/bubonicplague/a/111602.htm

• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are 10 to 15 cases of bubonic plague in the United States each year. These cases tend to occur in two regions: northern New Mexico, northern Arizona and southern Colorado; California, southern Oregon and far western Nevada.

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/bubonicplague/a/111602.htm

Treatments• The bubonic plague should be treated as

soon as it is diagnosed. Antibiotics such as streptomycin or tetracycline, are given and symptoms are treated.

Some ways to prevent bubonic plague would be:•Controlling the rat population

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/bubonicplague/a/111602.htm

•Watching for plague cases in both rats and humans in the area •Using insecticide to reduce the number of fleas •Treating pets for fleas

CDC

• Approximately 5 to 15 cases occur each year in the U.S. The greatest concentration occurs in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. But human cases have occurred in rural areas from the Pacific coastal region eastward to the Great Plains states.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/trainingmodule/1/09.asp

Plague Worldwide

• Plague exists in rodent populations on every inhabited continent except Australia.

• Approximately 1,500 to 3,000 cases of human plague are reported annually worldwide.

• Worldwide, most cases of plague occur in Africa with limited outbreaks in Asia and South America.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/trainingmodule/1/11.asp

Environment

• The bubonic plague is mostly found in the Western United States.

• In 1603, the plague killed 38,000 Londoners• The 14th century eruption of the Black Death

had a drastic effect on Europe's population, irrevocably changing the social structure.

• The total number of deaths worldwide is estimated at 75 million people

• Total European deaths were 45% to 50% or every 1 out of 2 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

Duck lungs with bubonic plague

• Bubonic plague can be transmitted person to person through respiratory droplets with direct close contact.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/trainingmodule/1/05.asp

http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/trainingmodule/1/05pneplague.htm

NO?...GOOD