UPDATE: The World Health Organization (WHO) is now involved in the plague outbreak occurring in the northern region of Peru. WHO’s investigation has revealed at least 10 strains of plague, pneumonic plague and septicemia plague. The mention of The Plague, also known as Black Death, conjures images of the 1300’s when millions died all throughout Europe. Now a day if caught early the plague is treatable.
The health organization is working with Peruvian health officials to implement insect control measures in high risk-areas and strengthen disease surveillance while informing the general public of the risks involved.
ORIGINAL STORY: The bubonic plague has struck 27 people in Peru, killing one. Peru’s health minister reports one 14-year-old boy with Downs syndrome has died. The cases appear to be a mixture of bubonic plague, pneumonic plague and septicemia plague. The plague can be transmitted by fleabites or as an airborne contagion.
Those infected are from Peru’s northern coastal province, La Libertad. The first plague outbreak recorded in Peru was in 1903 and the last in 1994 which claimed 35 people.
