Guest guest Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Pneumonic plague outbreak kills 42 in Congo: WHO Updated Sat. Oct. 14 2006 12:30 PM ET Associated Press GENEVA -- Pneumonic plague is suspected to have broken out in two areas in Congo, causing a reported 42 deaths, the World Health Organization said Friday. WHO said it had received reports of 626 cases, mostly in the town of Wamba in northern Oriental province. The reports, which covered July 31 to Oct. 8, were investigated by a team from Congo's provincial health authority, WHO and Doctors Without Borders. The U.N. health body said final laboratory confirmation of the presence of pneumonic plague was pending, but preliminary results from a rapid diagnosis test in the field found three out of eight samples positive. Pneumonic plague is spread mainly by fleas, and causes an infection in the lungs that slowly suffocates its victims. If diagnosed in time, it can be treated with antibiotics. As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. William O. Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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