Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation

Patterns of Human Plague in Uganda, 2008-2016

Joseph D Forrester et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Sep.

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.

Keywords: Africa; Uganda; United States; West Nile; Yersinia pestis; bacteria; bubonic plague; plague; pneumonic plague; vector-borne infections; zoonoses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Suspected, probable, and confirmed human plague cases, by year, West Nile region, Uganda, 2008–2016.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Residence locations of confirmed and probable human plague cases, by district, West Nile region, Uganda, 2008–2016. Inset shows location of Uganda in Africa.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Confirmed and probable human plague cases, by sex and 5-year age group, West Nile region, Uganda, 2008–2016.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Exploring and Mitigating Plague for One Health Purposes.
    Eads DA, Biggins DE, Wimsatt J, Eisen RJ, Hinnebusch BJ, Matchett MR, Goldberg AR, Livieri TM, Hacker GM, Novak MG, Buttke DE, Grassel SM, Hughes JP, Atiku LA. Eads DA, et al. Curr Trop Med Rep. 2022;9(4):169-184. doi: 10.1007/s40475-022-00265-6. Curr Trop Med Rep. 2022. PMID: 39210935 Free PMC article.
  • Engagement with Traditional Healers for Early Detection of Plague in Uganda.
    Apangu T, Candini G, Abaru J, Candia B, Okoth FJ, Atiku LA, Griffith KS, Hayden MH, Zielinski-Gutiérrez E, Schwartz AM, McCormick DW, Mead PS, Kugeler KJ. Apangu T, et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023 Oct 2;109(5):1129-1136. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0101. Print 2023 Nov 1. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023. PMID: 37783460 Free PMC article.
  • Plague Outbreak of a Marmota himalayana Family Emerging from Hibernation.
    Tang D, Duan R, Chen Y, Liang J, Zheng X, Qin S, Bukai A, Lu X, Xi J, Lv D, He Z, Wu W, Xiao M, Jing H, Wang X. Tang D, et al. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2022 Aug;22(8):410-418. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2022.0010. Epub 2022 Jul 4. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2022. PMID: 35787155 Free PMC article.
  • A decade of plague in Madagascar: a description of two hotspot districts.
    Rakotosamimanana S, Kassie D, Taglioni F, Ramamonjisoa J, Rakotomanana F, Rajerison M. Rakotosamimanana S, et al. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jun 10;21(1):1112. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11061-8. BMC Public Health. 2021. PMID: 34112118 Free PMC article.
  • Intervention To Stop Transmission of Imported Pneumonic Plague - Uganda, 2019.
    Apangu T, Acayo S, Atiku LA, Apio H, Candini G, Okoth F, Basabose JK, Ojosia L, Ajoga S, Mongiba G, Wetaka MM, Kayiwa J, Balinandi S, Schwartz A, Yockey B, Sexton C, Dietrich EA, Pappert R, Petersen JM, Mead PS, Lutwama JJ, Kugeler KJ. Apangu T, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Mar 6;69(9):241-244. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6909a5. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020. PMID: 32134908 Free PMC article.
See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Prentice MB, Rahalison L. Plague. Lancet. 2007;369:1196–207. 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60566-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Perry RD, Fetherston JD. Yersinia pestis—etiologic agent of plague. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997;10:35–66. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gage KL, Kosoy MY. Natural history of plague: perspectives from more than a century of research. Annu Rev Entomol. 2005;50:505–28. 10.1146/annurev.ento.50.071803.130337 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mead PS. Yersinia species (including plague). In: Bennett JE, Dolin R, Blaser MJ, editors. Principles and practice of infectious diseases. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2015. p. 2607–18.
    1. Begier EM, Asiki G, Anywaine Z, Yockey B, Schriefer ME, Aleti P, et al. Pneumonic plague cluster, Uganda, 2004. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006;12:460–7. 10.3201/eid1203.051051 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources