Faculty Bibliography

Pneumonic plague, which affects the respiratory system, is generally regarded as a public health emergency of the first order. It and bubonic plague are caused by the same bacterium, but pneumonic plague is considered far more of a threat because the infection is airborne. Airborne plague causes pneumonia and is the deadliest, most communicable form of plague. None of the suspected plague cases from Surat is bubonic, which could suggest that the plague originated elsewhere in the bubonic form and spread in pneumonic form to Surat. The scene in Surat during recent days resembled a grade B movie, except that it was real. It would be a miracle if no evacuees were carrying the plague-causing bacterium, Yersinia pestis, as they fled Surat, a port city of 1.6 million people in western India not far from Bombay. The threat extends beyond the country

Pneumonic plague, which affects the respiratory system, is generally regarded as a public health emergency of the first order. It and bubonic plague are caused by the same bacterium, but pneumonic plague is considered far more of a threat because it is airborne. The scene in Surat over the past days resembled a grade B movie, except that it was real. It would be a miracle if no evacuees were carrying the plague-causing bacterium, Yersinia pestis, as they fled Surat, a port city of 1.6 million people in western India near Bombay. The threat extends beyond the country

Officials of the World Health Organization have been playing down the threat. In interviews over the weekend, Dr. Giorgio Torrigiani, an official of the organization, said there was no danger to travelers to and from India. He also said he doubted that plague would spread beyond the [Surat] area, and he expressed confidence that the Indian Government was taking all necessary steps to contain the epidemic. Dr. Torrigiani said he was 'confident that there would not be a danger of plague spreading' outside of India. The Indian Government has said laboratory tests confirmed that the disease afflicting Surat is pneumonic plague. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has sent to India reagents needed to diagnose Y. pestis in the laboratory, at the urgent request of doctors there. But Dr. Duane J. Gubler, a plague expert at the Federal agency's field station in Fort Collins, Colo., said he had not received word of results. Dr. Gubler said he assumed that India was dealing with pneumonic plague but, he said, 'we are keeping an open mind about the situation.' Since the mid-1970's, domestic cats have become an important newly recognized source of transmission of plague to humans in the United States, but rarely elsewhere. Cats have been identified as the source of at least 15 human plague cases in this country, including several that resulted from pneumonic feline plague. Cats become infected by catching infected rodents and then spread the bacteria to humans, often through airborne infection

It and bubonic plague are caused by the same bacterium, but pneumonic plague is considered far more of a threat because it is airborne and can be spread by the coughing of the plague victim. None of the suspected plague cases from Surat is bubonic, which could suggest the plague originated elsewhere in the bubonic form -- perhaps from an outbreak 400 kilometres south of Surat -- and spread in the pneumonic form to Surat. The scene in Surat over the past days resembled a grade B movie, except that it was real. It would be a miracle if no evacuees were carrying the plague-causing bacterium, Yersinia pestis , as they fled Surat, a port city of 1.6 million people in western India near Bombay. The threat extends beyond the country

Cards will be given to travelers from the infected areas to alert them to call a doctor if they develop a fever or become ill, said Dr. Duane Gubler, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert on plague. He emphasized that plague can be successfully treated with antibiotics if detected early. Without treatment, the mortality rate from pneumonic plague is 90 percent; with antibiotics, the mortality rate falls to 5 percent

Researchers from the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, using a tumor registry, were able to identify clinic participants who developed ovarian cancers before 1992. Nine of the 11 had taken clomiphene, sold under the brand names Clomid and Serophene, and 5 of the 9 had taken the drug during 12 or more monthly cycles

In an effort to guard against the spread of the pneumonic plague outside of India, federal health officials in the US said on Sep 24, 1994 that they plan to increase surveillance at airports in the US to identify any cases among passengers coming from infected areas of India

The history, nature and treatment for pneumonic plague, an epidemic of which is spreading through Surat India, are examined

A new study has found that women treated with infertility drugs have a risk of ovarian cancer that is 2.5 times higher than that of women in the general population. In a study of 3,837 women, reported on Sep 22, 1994 in the New England Journal of Medicine, 11 developed ovarian cancer, while the number expected from statistical calculations was 4.4 cases