DOH Logo linking to the DOH Home Page

Notifiable Conditions logo

Blue Line Image
You are here: DOH Home » Notifiable Conditions » Plague Index Search | Employees
 Site Directory:    Notifiable Conditions: Plague
Other links concerning Notifiable Conditions
Posters
Associated Programs

PDF documents require the free Acrobat Reader. Click here to download a copy.

Access Washington Logo linking to Access Washington Home Page

     

Plague


Cause: Bacterium Yersinia pestis

Illness and treatment: Plague causes three clinical syndromes: bubonic (fever, headache, nausea and unilateral lymph node swelling); septicemic (bacteremia and multi-organ system failure); and pneumonic (pneumonia). A patient may have several syndromes. About 14% of plague cases in the United States are fatal. Treatment is with antibiotics and supportive care.

Sources: Wild rodent populations are the natural reservoir where plague is maintained by fleas. Humans are infected through flea bites, handling tissues from infected animals, or respiratory droplet spread from animals or people with pneumonic plague.

Prevention: Avoid contact with sick or dead wild animals, rodent-proof houses, prevent pets from contracting fleas, and use repellents on skin and clothing when outdoors.

Recent Washington trends: Serologic sampling of 6,781 wild carnivores collected between 1975 and 2009 in Washington showed 3.3% seropositivity but human infections are rare: the last reported case was an animal trapper in Yakima exposed while skinning a bobcat in 1984. In neighboring Oregon, 2 persons living in the southern part of the state were diagnosed with plague in 2010.

2010: No human cases of plague were reported; however, a laboratory technician in Washington who worked with a specimen from an Oregon plague case received prophylaxis for a laboratory exposure.

Purpose of Reporting and Surveillance

  • To assist in the diagnosis and treatment of cases
  • To identify potentially exposed close contacts, health care workers and laboratory personnel and to provide counseling
  • To identify sources of transmission (e.g., wild rodents or other animals) and to prevent further transmission from such sources
  • To raise the index of suspicion of a possible bioterrorism event if no natural exposure source is identified

Legal Reporting Requirements

  • Health care providers: Immediately notifiable to local health jurisdiction.
  • Health care facilities: Immediately notifiable to local health jurisdiction.
  • Laboratories: Yersinia pestis immediately notifiable to local health jurisdiction; specimen submission required — culture or other appropriate clinical material (2 business days).
  • Veterinarians: Suspected human cases notifiable immediately to the local health jurisdiction; animal cases notifiable to Washington State Department of Agriculture (see: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=16-70).
  • Local health jurisdictions: Suspected and confirmed cases are immediately notifiable to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Communicable Disease Epidemiology (CDE) (1-877-539-4344). If bioterrorism is suspected, case must be immediately reported to DOH: 1-877-539-4344

Last update
December 2011

Plague Resources

General Information
Case Definition
(PDF Format)
Fact Sheet
(Web Format)
Plague Incidence Rates
(PDF Format)
Reporting Forms
Plague Reporting Form
(PDF Format)
Public Health and Health Care
Surveillance and Reporting Guidelines
(PDF Format)

DOH Home | Access Washington | Privacy Notice | Disclaimer/Copyright Information

Washington State Department of Health
Communicable Disease Epidemiology
MS: K17-9, 1610 NE 150th Street
Shoreline, WA 98155

Consultation and technical assistance are available to local health jurisdictions in Washington State:
Phone (206) 418-5500

FAX (206) 418-5515

24-hour contact (inside Washington State only)  1-877-539-4344

Washington residents can contact their local health jurisdictions for assistance


Send inquires about DOH and its programs to the Health Consumer Assistance Office
Comments or questions regarding this Fact Sheet? Send us an e-mail.