The year of the Black Death - Are you ready?

Pneumonic plague is the deadliest and most rapid form of the plague. At this moment, there is a global outbreak occurring as the plague quickly spreads. Currently, there have been 1,300 confirmed cases of the pneumonic plague thus far including 93 deaths. The majority of confirmed cases are mainly located in African countries such as Madagascar where Air Seychelles, one of Madagascar’s largest airlines, stopped flying in an effort to contain the spread of the plague around the globe.

Plague warnings have been issued for nine counties surrounding Madagascar. Pneumonic plague is spread from person to person via droplets in the air. The good news is that it is easily cured with antibiotics (If enough is available due to extent of outbreak), if caught early enough. People infected with the plague often develop symptoms after and incubation period of one to seven days. There is concern that if pneumonic plague did make its way into the United States during flu season, individuals infected with the plague might not seek treatment right away believing that they have a typical case of the flu instead.

There is also a hidden danger not typically discussed in the main stream media. Madagascar is located relatively close to the countries of Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania and Mozambique. In August 2014, a seized Islamic State laptop revealed extensive research in weaponing the bubonic plague. The 19-page document in Arabic that was found on the laptop pertained to how to develop biological weapons and to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals. Knowing that ISIS has ties to Islamic extremists in Somalia, one can begin to see the potential danger. ISIS has been losing momentum as of late. A desperate enemy is the most dangerous and their methods can be very unpredictable.

The World Health Organization estimates that releasing 50 Kg of an aerosol form of the plague bacteria over a city the size of London could result in over 300,000 to become infected with 72,000 dying from the bacteria. There simply wouldn’t be enough antibiotics to treat everyone at once.

Regardless of how it spreads (Naturally or Purposely), if you see any unexpected spikes in flu cases around the country, you might want to avoid these areas and remain vigilant.