Suspected Outbreak of Bubonic Plague Hits Madagascar

A suspected outbreak of what scientists believe could be the bubonic plaque has been spread by rats and reportedly killed 39 people in Madagascar, according to the AFP.

"There is an epidemic in Madagascar which is currently affecting five districts (out of 112). Eighty-six people have been inflicted by the plague, of which 39 have died," said the ministry in a statement read to AFP.

A doctor in the health ministry diagnosed 90 percent of the area disease as pneumonic plague, the most vicious strain, according to the news organization.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned of a possible outbreak on the island in October. Conditions and living standards since 2009 worsened greatly due to a political crisis, according to the Pasteur Institute, and health experts were particularly worried about sanitation in prisons.

"If the plague gets into prisons, there could be a sort of atomic explosion of plague within the town," the Pasteur Institute's Christophe Rogier said, according to the BBC. "The prison walls will never prevent the plague from getting out and invading the rest of the town." 

At this time, a giant rat population currently lives in the main prison of Antananarivo, the country's capital city, along with 3,000 inmates. The rat population is mostly responsible for carrying the disease. 

The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death when it originated in the Middle Ages, killed millions throughout Europe back in the 1300s. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that the disease is spread to humans through flea bites and caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.

An outbreak of the plague first hit Madagascar back in 1898, and last year an outbreak also killed a total of 60 people in the area.

At this time, health officials are working to investigate prison areas and other cities in the hopes of preventing a further outbreak from occurring.