WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PUTS KENYA ON ALERT AFTER AIRBORNE PLAGUE INFECTING ABOUT 1,300 IN MADAGASCAR

Health chiefs in Kenya have been put on
alert following the outbreak of a deadly
outbreak of airborne plague in
Madagascar.
More than 1,300 cases have now been
reported in Madagascar, World Health
Organisation health chiefs have revealed,
as nearby nations have been placed on
high alert.
Two thirds of those are suspected to be
pneumonic - described as the 'deadliest
and most rapid form of plague', WHO
figures show.
The deadly disease is caused by the same
bacteria that wiped out at least 50 million
people in Europe in the 1300s.
However, the lethal form currently
spreading is different to the bubonic strain
which was behind history's Black Death.
Pneumonic can spread through coughing
and can kill within 24 hours.
Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia,
Comoros and Mauritius are the six other
countries to have received the heightened
alert.
It has been reported as many as 50 aid
workers are believed to have been among
the people infected.
The African branch of the WHO states 93
people have lost their lives to the disease
so far, lower than the 124 noted in official
UN figures.
A WHO official said: "The risk of the
disease spreading is high at national
level… because it is present in several
towns and this is just the start of the
outbreak."
WHO admitted the outbreaks have
centered in cities, including the capital of
Madagascar, Antananarivo - heightening
the risk of it spreading.
Officials are growing concerned as around
two thirds of the cases are suspected to be
pneumonic plague, spread through
coughing, sneezing or spitting.
It is more deadly then the bubonic
variation of the disease which killed a
third of Europe's population in the 1300s
before being largely wiped out.
Madagascar sees regular outbreaks of the
disease, but this one has caused alarm due
to how quickly it has spread and a high
number of fatalities.
Like the bubonic form that often is found
in Madagascar's remote highlands, it can
be treated with common antibiotics if
caught in time.
This outbreak is the first time the disease
has affected the Indian Ocean island's two
biggest cities, Antananarivo and
Toamasina, officials said.
Around 600 cases are reported each year
on the island. But this year's outbreak is
expected to dwarf previous ones as it has
struck so early.

International agencies have so far sent
more than one million doses of antibiotics
to Madagascar. Nearly 20,000 respiratory
masks have also been donated.
However, the WHO advises against travel
or trade restrictions. It has previously
asked for $5.5 million to support the
plague response.
Despite its guidance, Air Seychelles, one of
Madagascar's biggest airlines, stopped
flying temporarily earlier in the month to
try and curb the spread.