Madagascar - Plague outbreak 2019-20

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Faratsiho: Suspicions of pulmonary plague on nine people

August 13, 2019 Miangaly Ralitera

Two districts of Antananarivo province registered suspected cases of plague in a matter of days. The number of victims is twelve.

Panic around a suspicion of epidemic of Faratsiho lung plague. Nine suspected cases are treated in a district health facility. The youngest would be only 4 months old, but there would also be adults, including a 45-year-old. "Supported in time, the victims survived. The treatments continue, and there is a favorable evolution of their state of health. Our care teams are superb, "reported Dr. Solofoniaina Armand Rafalimanantsoa, Director of Health Surveillance and Epidemiological Surveillance and Response (DVSSER) at the Ministry of Public Health, yesterday.

The victims would have presented the evocative signs, namely fever, cough, migraine, fatigue, breathing problem. "The evolution of the disease has been very fast," he adds, while stressing that we can not yet confirm that it is really lung plague.

These cases were listed on August 8th and 9th. Alerted by this evolving, spreading and rapidly killing disease, health workers have been combing through to identify other likely victims. "We did some kind of police investigation of people who have been in contact with patients," the source said. Since Sunday, no new cases have been identified.

Twelve cases in a few days

These patients live in three villages in Faratsiho District. They would be parents and neighbors. The reason for this disease, which has claimed nine lives in the space of a few days, remains unknown. "The link of the disease with the practice of exhumation is not excluded". Exhumation increases the risk of transmission of pulmonary plague, if ever, a plague victim was buried in the family tomb.
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https://lexpress.mg/13/08/2019/faratsiho-suspicions-de-peste-pulmonaire-sur-neuf-personnes/

[Shiloh]

Source: https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/reuni...es-738882.html


Les services sanitaires ont identifi? treize cas de peste pr?sum?s. Des analyses sont en cours, mais le doute des m?decins est tr?s faible. Cette soudaine r?apparition de la peste correspond ? la multiplication des feux de brousse qui chassent les rats vers des villes surcharg?es d'immondices.
Par Fabrice Floch
Publi? le 14/08/2019 ? 11:09

Google translation: Health services have identified thirteen cases of suspected plague. Analyzes are in progress, but the doctors' doubt is very weak. This sudden reappearance of the plague corresponds to the multiplication of bush fires that chase rats to cities overflowing with filth.
By Fabrice Floch
Posted on 14/08/2019 at 11:09

This is not yet panic, but the health authorities of Madagascar are very worried. Thirteen people, probably victims of the plague, have been admitted to the hospital since the beginning of the month. Dr. Armand Rafalimannantsoa, director of epidemiological surveillance for the Ministry of Health, has expressed his concern to the Madagascar Express of the multiplication of bush fires: "These are the precursory signs of a cohabitation between the rats and the bush. These practices force the rats to leave their habitat.These rodents are the vector of the plague ".

Cities are crumbling under the rubbish

The Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development was alerted on July 23, 2019, about the incidence of bush fires. Specialized brigades have been set up to educate farmers about the consequences of these wildfires. If the discussions are futile, the sanctions will be strengthened and applied without fail. In addition, the ministry will fight relentlessly against wild dumps. Sanitation, the capital and its suburbs are an absolute emergency.

The first focus is located south-southwest of Antananarivo

The first cases of plague were located in Faratsiho, Ambatomirahavavy and Arivonimamo, three small communities located in the highlands of the Big Island, already affected by this disease in the past. The doctor in charge of the health watch wants to get a better control of the passengers who move in bush taxi: "We need to know their name, where they come from and where they go when they are in the sectors concerned. Awareness will not be enough to prevent a plague epidemic. "

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Public Health - Plague epidemic declared in Bemahatazana

23-10-2019 by The Madagascar Express

The commune of Bemahatazana in Tsiroanomandidy is on alert. The victims of bubonic plague continue to increase.


New cases appear almost every day. The commune of Bemahatazana, in Tsiroanomandidy, is on alert. The victims of the bubonic plague continue to increase, in this month of October. Patients have been admitted to the hospital almost every day since the end of the week. According to the report of Deputy Mayor Richard Rasolonirina, five cases, all children under 18, were notified between Friday and Tuesday. One of them died on October 21, according to the National Gendarmerie. The last hospitalization would date from yesterday morning.

Currently, four are reportedly being treated in the commune's basic health center (CSB). "Some are still tired, but the doctors say they will get by with the treatments," adds the local authority. This recrudescence of bubonic plague began in early October. The symptoms of the disease, namely, a high fever, and ganglia, appeared on three members of a family at Ambatofotsy Feo. The youngest did not survive on October 11th. On the 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th and 21st of October, other patients were hospitalized in the CSB 2 of the commune. These plague victims would live nearby fokontany, including Ambatofotsy East, Ambatofotsy Feo, Tsinjorano, and Bemahatazana 2.

Faced with this alarming situation, the local authorities, the Tsiroanomandidy police chief, the health officials in the Bongolava region, and the National Gendarmerie have mobilized. Yesterday, they discussed measures to be taken, the purpose of which is to prevent the spread of the disease and above all to prevent new cases of death from occurring. It has been decided, among other things, that severe penalties will be imposed on the perpetrators of the fires. In addition, the villagers will be sensitized to go as quickly as possible to a health facility, in case of suspicious symptoms.

The problem of the means and distance of the health facility from the villagers, mentioned by the community agents who attended this meeting as the cause of the delay in treatment, would have been solved. The Regional Directorate of Public Health proposed to pay the expenses of the most vulnerable families to reach the hospital. But this is only a short-term solution. The bringing together of health offers and health workers with the population is essential. The Directorate of Health Surveillance and Epidemiological Surveillance and Response to the Ministry of Public Health also welcomes the absence of cases of pneumonic plague since the beginning of the plague season. "Our agents have been mobilized to ensure that there is as little death as possible," says a source.

https://www.moov.mg/actualites/nationale/detail/sant%C3%A9-publique-%C3%A9pid%C3%A9mie-de-peste-d%C3%A9clar%C3%A9e-%C3%A0-bemahatazana

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After the death of a young boy: Strong suspicion of pulmonary plague in Manandriana

Madagasikara Midi Edition October 31, 2019

Last Monday, a new suspected case of pulmonary plague was reported. The victim is a young boy, deceased and showing symptoms giving way to a strong suspicion of pulmonary plague.

Following the death of a boy, the Manandriana District Health Service immediately took the necessary steps to combat the spread of the disease. This, taking in hand, in the presence of the family, the burial under the conditions required in case of plague. The victim's entourage also benefited from prophylactic treatment, while the homes of all the contacts were disinfected.

Death confirmed. Samples were taken from the victim by the local health authorities, he was told by Amoron'i Mania's Regional Director of Health, who at the same time confirms his death in the Manandriana district. The samples were sent last Tuesday to the Pasteur Institute of Madagascar (IPM) to be analyzed, according to always the regional director of health of Amoron'i Mania.

The current period being the beginning of the plague season, the reappearance of plague cases is more or less predictable. Existing provisions prevent the epidemic. We remember the drama of the plague season 2017-2018 during which the plague epidemic claimed the lives of nearly 1000 people in Madagascar.

Mobile unit.The district of Manandriana is among the areas affected by the plague during the plague seasons. Currently, the bush fires raging in the Amoron'i Mania region increase the chances of the plague reappearing due to the movement of field rats, driven by bush fires, to inhabited areas where fleas Rats with plague could affect the human population. The recommendations remain unchanged if there is suspicion of plague: take the patient with suspected symptoms urgently to the nearest health facility. Rapid care measures for the patient and those around him are already in place in the basic health centers. In some localities, a well-equipped mobile unit,

Anastase - Hanitra R.

http://www.midi-madagasikara.mg/societe/2019/10/31/apres-le-deces-dun-jeune-garcon-forte-suspicion-de-peste-pulmonaire-a-manandriana/

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Madagascar - Plague epidemic: 7 victims identified in the center of the country

LINFO.RE - created on 20.02.2020 at 05:30 am - The editorial staff
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At least 18 cases of plague, including 7 community deaths have been recorded in Ambositra (center of the country) since August, reports the Madagascan Minister of Public Health. This part of the Big Island has been a plague home for decades. A source at an on-site basic health center said people in the bush rarely see a doctor when they get sick. If an individual dies from the disease, family members prefer to hide it and quietly bury them. Panic immediately gives way to fear among families when they learn that one of their families has contracted the plague.
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https://www.linfo.re/ocean-indien/madagascar/madagascar-epidemie-de-la-peste-7-victimes-recensees-dans-le-centre-du-pays