- NEW DELHI (UPI) - Doctors
at India's National Institute of Communicable Diseases on Tuesday confirmed
that the plague has killed four people in northern India.
-
- The latest victim died at a hospital in the city of
Chandigarh.
-
- Star News TV reported that all three tests recommended
by the World Health Organization on the organism isolated from patients'
samples were positive for Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes
plague.
-
- India's prime minister's office was informed of the
outbreak.
At least four villages in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Utranchal
have been quarantined and villagers' movements have been restricted.
-
- At least 14 more people have been admitted to various
hospitals. At least six of them are listed in critical condition.
-
- Health ministry officials said these are isolated cases
of plague, and there is no widespread outbreak. All necessary precautions
are being taken to isolate people affected with the disease, officials
said.
-
- More than 60 people were killed in 1994 when plague
struck
India's western city of Surat.
-
- The disease is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis
and spread by fleas carried by rodents. Once people become infected, the
often fatal disease spreads through coughing and sneezing.
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