Bubonic Plague Confirmed in Namibia

Monday, May 10, 1999; 12:14 p.m. EDT

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) -- Local medical authorities confirmed Monday an outbreak of bubonic plague in Namibia's populous north-central region that has killed three of the 73 people with the disease.

Dr. Naftali Hamata of the Namibian health ministry said tests done at the South African Institute for Medical Research last week showed that six of 11 samples sent for analysis proved positive for bubonic plague. He said the other five cases may also still prove positive, but more testing must be done.

``Even though not all of them are confirmed to have the disease, we are taking no chances and testing everyone,'' he said.

Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe between 1346 and 1351, wiping out nearly one-third of the population. The disease is transmitted by fleas infecting rats which in turn infect humans. If left untreated, it can kill within three to five days.

Today, it is easily treatable by powerful modern antibiotics.

Hamata said his ministry suspected the outbreak was caused by young cattle herders who came into contact with rats carrying the virus while hunting them for food.

Outbreaks of the disease in the area have been reported since the early 1960s, Hamata said.

``We are having all the affected homesteads in the area sprayed (with pesticide) at the moment, but you have to catch every rat to be sure it is gone,'' he said

-- a (a@a.a), May 10, 1999

Answers

Why Y2K. It's a bloody outbreak. What does it have to do with Y2K. Like most here I stockpiled etc but am really sick of everything out of the ordinary being put down to Y2K. Get a life.

-- pauline jansen (paulinej@angliss.vic.edu.au), May 10, 1999.

I think what the post was referring to was the fact that it would be a bummer to have a Black Death outbreak during Y2K. The medical compaines and hospitals are in deep shit. Many are not compliant and might be unable to treat patients.

Don't read the OT posts if you don't like them.

-- Quit Bitching (Can YouRead@getglasses.com), May 10, 1999.

Or maybe the meaning is to not count on hunting Rats for food during y2k and beyond! And stay away from mice Hante virus can be deadly!

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), May 10, 1999.

This is MinnesotaSmith, author of the Y2K-preparatory website http://y2ksafeminnesota.hypermart.net. Remember that the U.S. Southwest is endemic for bubonic plague. Pleasant dreams.

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

Pauline,

Also, remember that Y2K could cause disruptions in garbage collection and disposal. If that happens, the vermin population will explode, which would likely increase the chances of contact between humans and rats. Hence the concern...

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

FYI - Bubonic Plague is seen in the southwestern US from time to time (mostly in rodents). The point about a potential loss of sanitation is a good one. And rats are ubiquitous.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), May 10, 1999.

I've read that the U.S. imports the majority of pharmaceutical products used here. If this is true of Africa (quite likely, I think), and a plague develops there on a large scale, it will not matter that modern medical science knows how to cure it, if the means for a cure become unavailable due to manufacturing or shipping problems resulting from Y2K.

If and if and if. Uncertainty rules.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), May 10, 1999.

Start stocking tons of Vitamin C!!

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), May 11, 1999.

Vitamin C? Make pine needle tea, you scurvy dog. For plague, try stockpiling vancomycin.

-- Spidey (in@jam.com), May 11, 1999.

Just a clarification: "The disease is transmitted by fleas infecting rats which in turn infect humans." Wrong -- it's the rats infecting the fleas, which in turn pass it on to humans through flea bites. Rodents are the disease reservoir for the plague. During the Middle ages, at the height of the Black Death, religious authorities thought the plague was sent by Satan, so they ordered the death of anythng associated with the devil, especially CATS. Which, of course, led to an explosion of plague cases when the cats stopped hunting the rats which then ... Oh, you know the rest.

-- Cash (cash@andcarry.com), May 11, 1999.

And the Dr's of those days used rose hip with decent results to fight it.....stock up on vit C! How you going to stock pile Vanc???? I wouldn't want to get it from Mexico...

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), May 11, 1999.

I think what the original author may have been insinuating was that there are sure a lot of bad things lining up at the same time. Some think that y2k is the start of the end of the world. All we need now is one world currency and a one-world government. The New World Order means to many a one-world government. If you hear about the United Nations wanting to start taxing you on every transaction, look out. That is their goal in the near term.

I personally don't think y2k is going to be too sevier in the U.S.. There are too many financial incentives for grocery stores and electric companies to not run out. You think of the inconvience of losing power for a few days. Think of the electric companies losing income. They get paid by the unit of electricity, not by the month.

If you are storing food, check out http://www.srv.net/~layman/ for a cool food storage utility.

-- John Layman (jlayman@(nospamplease)srv.net), May 11, 1999.

John--- URL didn't work

-- spun@lright (mikeymac@uswest.net), May 11, 1999.