title: Pneumonic plague outbreak, Northern Madagascar, 2011.
abstract: Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is endemic to Madagascar, particularly to the central highlands. Although plague has not been previously reported in northern Madagascar, an outbreak of pneumonic plague occurred in this remote area in 2011. Over a 27-day period, 17 suspected, 2 presumptive, and 3 confirmed human cases were identified, and all 15 untreated 20 patients died. Molecular typing of Y. pestis isolated from 2 survivors and 5 Rattus rattus rat samples identified the Madagascar-specific 1.ORI3-k single-nucleotide polymorphism genotype and 4 clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat patterns. This outbreak had a case-fatality rate of 100% for nontreated patients. The Y. pestis 1.ORI3-k single-nucleotide polymorphism genotype might cause larger epidemics. Multidrug-resistant strains and persistence of the pathogen in natural foci near human settlements pose severe risks to populations in plague-endemic regions and require outbreak response strategies.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Julia M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Riehm
authors.forename: Perlinot
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herindrainy
authors.forename: Rahelinirina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soanandrasana
authors.forename: Maherisoa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ratsitoharina
authors.forename: Fanjasoa
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rakotomanana
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrianalimanana
authors.forename: Holger C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Minoarisoa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rajerison
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016358:Contact Tracing; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008270:Madagascar / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D058889:Molecular Typing; D010930:Plague / Q000401:mortality*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D051381:Rats; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification