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Recommendations for the Control of Yersinia pestis Infections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Mark E. White ,
Diane Gordon ,
Jack D. Poland  and
Allan M. Barnes
Mark E. White*
Affiliation:
Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fort Collins, Colorado
Diane Gordon
Affiliation:
Bernalillo County Medical Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jack D. Poland
Affiliation:
Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fort Collins, Colorado
Allan M. Barnes
Affiliation:
Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fort Collins, Colorado
*
Center for Disease Control, P.O. Box 2087, Fort Collins, CO 80522
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Abstract

Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, is endemic in the western United States; 105 cases were reported between 1970 and 1979. Plague may manifest in one of three clinical forms: bubonic, septicemic, or pneumonic. Bubonic and septicemic plague represent relatively little risk for human-to-human transmission to contacts, although heavily infected secretions, such as drainage from a bubo, pose a theoretical risk, especially if they are aerosolized from a syringe during diagnostic aspirations. Pneumonic plague may be highly contagious to contacts and poses a greater risk. The Plague Branch, Center for Disease Control recommends that all patients with plague be placed in strict isolation for the first 48 hours of treatment because of the possibility that pneumonia may supervene. If it does not, wound and skin precautions are adequate for the duration of hospitalization. Untreated plague pneumonia is an epidemiologic emergency. All contacts must be identified promptly and those with face-to-face exposure should receive abortive antibiotic therapy. All contacts should be under surveillance, with twice-daily temperature checks, for seven days.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 1 , Issue 5 , October 1980 , pp. 324 - 329
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1980

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