Patterns of Human Plague in Uganda, 2008-2016.

Martin E Schriefer ,Titus Apangu,Joseph D Forrester,Brook Yockey,Jimmy Felix Okoth,Joseph T Mpanga ,Christopher Sexton,Janet Abaru,Kiersten J Kugeler,Paul S Mead,Kevin S Griffith ,Geoffrey Ezama,Harriet Apio ,John Kaggwa,Lawrence Nolex,Charles B Beard ,Sarah Acayo,Gordian Candini,Linda A Atiku ,Bosco Candia,Robert Okello

doi:10.3201/eid2309.170789

Abstract

Plague is a highly virulent fleaborne zoonosis that occurs throughout many parts of the world; most suspected human cases are reported from resource-poor settings in sub-Saharan Africa. During 2008–2016, a combination of active surveillance and laboratory testing in the plague-endemic West Nile region of Uganda yielded 255 suspected human plague cases; approximately one third were laboratory confirmed by bacterial culture or serology. Although the mortality rate was 7% among suspected cases, it was 26% among persons with laboratory-confirmed plague. Reports of an unusual number of dead rats in a patient’s village around the time of illness onset was significantly associated with laboratory confirmation of plague. This descriptive summary of human plague in Uganda highlights the episodic nature of the disease, as well as the potential that, even in endemic areas, illnesses of other etiologies might be being mistaken for plague.

Highlights

Plague is a highly virulent fleaborne zoonosis that occurs throughout many parts of the world; most suspected human cases are reported from resource-poor settings in sub-Saharan Africa
Data on human plague cases were collected as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), the Ugandan Ministry of Health, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance education, clinical detection, laboratory diagnostic capacity, treatment, and control of plague in the West Nile region [12]
A total of 255 human plague cases were reported in the West Nile region of Uganda during 2008–2016

Summary

Introduction

Plague is a highly virulent fleaborne zoonosis that occurs throughout many parts of the world; most suspected human cases are reported from resource-poor settings in sub-Saharan Africa. Reports of an unusual number of dead rats in a patient’s village around the time of illness onset was significantly associated with laboratory confirmation of plague. This descriptive summary of human plague in Uganda highlights the episodic nature of the disease, as well as the potential that, even in endemic areas, illnesses of other etiologies might be being mistaken for plague. We summarize the epidemiology of human plague in the West Nile region of Uganda during 2008–2016

Methods

Results

Conclusion