The Black Death Plague outbreak in Madagascar which killed more than 140 people is slowly emerging as an alarming sign for the entire human community in the planet. A section of experts believes that if the disease starts spreading to other corners of the globe, it will result in an apocalypse.
Paul Hunter, a professor at the University of East Anglia, has said that this dreaded disease could soon mutate and will become untreatable in the future. The professor also added that if the Black Death plague reaches the US and UK, it will spread drastically everywhere, just like Ebola did in the past.
World Health Organization also expressed their concern over the spread of this dangerous epidemic. "WHO is concerned that plague could spread further because it is already present in several cities and this is the start of the epidemic season, which usually runs from September to April," said Dr. Charlotte Ndiaye, a WHO official in Madagascar, reports the Sun.
Also Read: What plague-infested Madagascar can learn from the past
The worst outbreak in 50 years
The recent Black Death Plague outbreak in Madagascar is widely considered as the worst outbreak of this deadly disease in 50 years. In a recent talk with the Daily Star, Professor Kyle Harper of the University of Oklahoma said that this 'third plague pandemic' is the proof that this disease cannot be demolished permanently from the planet.
He added that the disease outbreak in Madagascar is not centered to the specific area, and it is soon going to emerge as a threat to people everywhere. Harper also cited the examples of the previous two plague outbreaks where the disease mutated soon, thus spreading to all nooks of the globe in quick time.
Even though there are no vaccines for plague, administration of antibiotics in the early stages could save the life of the victim. Harper also made it clear that threat of antimicrobial resistance is real. According to Harper, modern humankind has an upper hand over Plague today, but the long history with the disease demonstrates its vicious octopian clutches, which may soon emerge as a threat to humans if it undergoes mutation.
According to experts, this current outbreak in Madagascar is an airborne pneumonic plague, and it will be usually spread by cough, sneezing, spitting, and through contact with other fluids. Experts consider this pneumonic plague related to Black Death which resulted in the death of more than 200 million people in Asia and Europe in the fourteenth century.
