Bubonic plague hits Ohangwena

An outbreak of bubonic plague in Namibia's Ohangwena district since April has so far affected 39 people, with six cases confirmed as positive, and no deaths occuring in health centres, the health ministry's permanent secretary told IRIN on Wednesday.

Dr Kalumbi Shangula said the plague first broke out in the under-developed northern district in 1983 with an average of 100 cases per year. "The worst outbreak was in 1985 when 355 suspected cases were reported and in 1991 when 1,092 people were affected, resulting in 45 deaths," Shangula told IRIN.

Shangula said the government has since introduced measures to control the outbreak, a major component of which is an intensive health education. "The result of this awareness is the lack of an outbreak since 1995 up to 1998," he said, adding that newspaper reports that the plague is spreading were "grossly exaggerated. The three reported deaths might have occurred while the people were at home or on their way to a health centre."

Bubonic plague is caused by a bacterium which can be transmitted to humans through bites by fleas which often live on rodents such as rats. Symptoms of the plague include fever and cerebral headaches and indications are an inflamed swelling in the groin or armpit. A medical researcher in Johannesburg told IRIN that samples sent from Namibia for tests showed that at least 6 of the 11 patients' blood was infected by mild plague organisms. "If not treated, the plague can be easily spread through airborne germs," the researcher said.