Since 2002, the
World Health Organization (WHO) has reported seven plague outbreaks, though some may go unreported because they often happen in remote areas. Between 1998 and 2009, nearly 24,000 cases were reported, including about 2,000 deaths, in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Eastern Europe. Ninety-eight percent of the world's cases occur in Africa.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Two outbreaks occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2005 and 2006. The outbreak in 2005 was only detected by looking back at blood samples. The outbreak was feared to be much worse because the plague superficially resembles other common diseases such as influenza and bronchitis; over 200 people who had been quarantined were released when they did not test positive for the plague. All but three of the deaths occurred around the city of
Surat.
China A major outbreak of the pneumonic plague occurred in
Manchuria from 1910 to 1911, in what became known as the
Manchurian plague, killing around 60,000 people. The
Qing court dispatched
Wu Lien-teh, a doctor educated at
Cambridge University, to oversee disease control and treatment efforts. He made the novel observation that the disease was
transmitted by air, and developed prototypical
respirators to help prevent its spread. A second, less deadly outbreak occurred in 1920–21, killing approximately 9,300 people. In September 2008, two people in
East Tibet died of pneumonic plague. An outbreak of the disease in China began in August 2009 in
Ziketan Town located in
Qinghai Province. The town was sealed off, and several people died as a result of the disease. According to spokesperson Vivian Tan of the WHO office in
Beijing, "In cases like this [in August 2009], we encourage the authorities to identify cases, to investigate any suspicious symptoms among close contacts, and to treat confirmed cases as soon as possible. So far, they have done exactly that. There have been sporadic cases reported around the country in the last few years so the authorities do have the experience to deal with this." In September 2010, five cases of pneumonic plague were reported in Tibet. In July 2014, Chinese media reported one case found in Gansu. On 12 November 2019, it was announced that two people from the Chinese province of
Inner Mongolia were diagnosed with pneumonic plague. They received treatment in
Chaoyang District, Beijing, and authorities implemented preventative control measures. Later in November, a third case of plague was confirmed. A 55-year-old man was diagnosed with
bubonic plague after eating wild rabbit in Inner Mongolia. The region's health commission says it has no evidence to suggest that this case is linked to the previous two. By the end of November, a fourth case was confirmed. Chinese health authorities reported a fresh case of bubonic plague in the country's northern Inner Mongolia region, bringing the total number of reported plague cases originating from Inner Mongolia to four.
Peru In August 2010, Peru's health minister, Oscar Ugarte, announced that an outbreak of plague had killed a 14-year-old boy and had infected at least 31 people in a northern coastal province. The boy died of bubonic plague on 26 July 2010. Ugarte stated that authorities were screening sugar and fish meal exports from
Ascope Province, located about 325 miles (520 km) northwest of
Lima, not far from the popular
Chicama beach. Most of the infections in Peru were bubonic plague, with four cases of pneumonic plague. The first recorded plague outbreak in Peru was in 1903. Before the above case, the last known outbreak was in 1994, killing 35 people.
Madagascar In November 2013, an outbreak of plague occurred in the
African island nation of
Madagascar. As of 16 December, at least 89 people were infected, with 39 deaths with at least two cases involving pneumonic plague. However, as many as 90% of cases were later reported to have involved pneumonic plague. From 23 August to 30 September 2017, a total of 73 suspected, probable, and confirmed cases of pneumonic plague, including 17 deaths, were reported in Madagascar. The diagnosis was confirmed by the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar by a polymerase chain reaction test, while field health workers used a Rapid Diagnostic Test. The WHO and
Institut Pasteur de Madagascar were both involved in administering antibiotic compounds and attempting to stop the spread of the disease. By mid-October, there were an estimated 684 confirmed cases of plague with 474 pneumonic, 156 bubonic and one septicemic. The remainder were not classified. At least 74 deaths have been ascribed to pneumonic plague. The outbreak officially ended on 26 November 2017 with 2,348 cases and 202 deaths officially reported.
United States In the fall of 1924, an
outbreak occurred in Los Angeles that killed 30 people. On 2 November 2007, wildlife biologist Eric York died of pneumonic plague in
Grand Canyon National Park. York was exposed to the bacteria while conducting a
necropsy on a
cougar carcass. In 2014, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment confirmed that a Colorado man had been diagnosed with pneumonic plague, the first confirmed human case in Colorado in more than 10 years, and one of only 60 cases since 1957. The man was found to have the disease after the family dog died unexpectedly, and a
necropsy revealed that the disease was the cause. Three additional pneumonic plague cases were confirmed in Colorado before the outbreak ended. A person near
Flagstaff, Arizona died of pneumonic plague in July 2025. ==References==