Plague (cont.)
Prevention
Antibiotics
Health experts recommend antibiotics if you have been exposed to wild rodent
fleas during a plague outbreak in animals, or to a possible plague-infected
animal. Because there are so few cases of plague in the United States, experts
do not recommend taking antibiotics unless it's certain a person has been
exposed to plague-infected fleas or animals.
Vaccine
Currently, there is no commercially available vaccine against plague in the
United States.
Research
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conducts
and supports research on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of infections
caused by microbes, including those that have the potential for use as
biological weapons. The research program to address biodefense includes both
short- and long-term studies targeted at designing, developing, evaluating, and
approving specific tools (diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines) needed to defend
against possible bioterrorist-caused disease outbreaks.
For instance, NIAID-supported investigators sequenced the genome of the
strain of Y. pestis that was associated with the second pandemic of plague,
including the Black Death. This will provide a valuable research resource to
scientists for identifying new targets for vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics for
this deadly pathogen.
NIAID-funded scientists have developed a rapid diagnostic test for pneumonic
plague that can be used in most hospitals. This will allow health care providers
to quickly identify and isolate the pneumonic plague patient from other patients
and enable health care providers to use appropriate precautions to protect
themselves.
Many other plague research projects at NIAID are focusing on early-stage
vaccine development, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Y. pestis bacterium is a
high priority with funded efforts ranging from basic science research to final
product development.
Current research projects include:
- Identifying genes in Y. pestis that infect the digestive tract of fleas and
researching how the bacteria are transferred to humans
- Studying the
disease-causing proteins and genes of Y. pestis that allow the bacteria to grow
in humans and learning how they function in human lungs
NIAID is also working
with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Energy to:
- Develop a vaccine that protects against inhalationally acquired pneumonic
plague
- Develop promising antibiotics and intervention strategies to treat and
prevent plague infection
Related Links
Government Links
National Library of Medicine MedlinePlus
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894
1-888-FIND-NLM (1-888-346-3656) or 301-594-5983
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30333
1-800-311-3435 or 404-639-3534
Non-government Links
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
41-22-791-2111
SOURCE: U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Last Editorial Review: 1/16/2008
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