http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020218/ap_on_re_as/india_plague_fear

 

5 Die in India; Doctors Fear Plague
Mon Feb 18, 3:47 PM ET

NEW DELHI, India - Five people in a remote part of northern India have died from a disease doctors fear may be pneumonic plague, hospital officials said Monday.

The first death was reported a week ago, and the fifth victim died Monday, said Manju Wadwalkar, an official at a hospital in Chandighar, capital of Punjab state. She said six patients were being treated but that no new cases were reported in four days.

Plague is commonly found in rodents, rabbits and certain meat-eating animals, especially those in higher elevations. Bubonic plague affects the lymph nodes, septicemic plague affects the blood and pneumonic plague affects the lungs.

The victims, all from remote villages in neighboring Himachal Pradesh state, suffered fever, cough, exhaustion and chest pain, symptoms similar to those of the plague, Wadwalkar said. Doctors hope test results expected Tuesday will identify the disease.

The pneumonic and septicemic forms of plague lead to a quick death in almost all cases if not treated with antibiotics. Bubonic plague is fatal only about 60 percent of the time.

The disease has occasionally emerged in isolated parts of India areas during the past century. Newspapers said there was an outbreak in Himachal Pradesh in the 1980s.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.