Plague incidence

From 1980 top 1994, 20 countries reported 18,739 cases to the World Health Organization (WHO), averaging 1,087 cases per year. This number probably underestimates the true incidence of plague. Many countries fail to identify and report the disease, a consequence of inadequate laboratory and surveillance infrastructure (22). 

Terrible fogs plagued London at the turn of the last century when Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper paced the streets of the metropolis. The incidence of bronchial disease invariably rose at times of prolonged winter fog—little wonder, considering that the fog droplets contained H2S04 Medical registrars in... 

Yersinia spp. are non-lactose-fermenting gram-negative coccobacilli that are widely distribnted in natnre. The genns Yersinia includes six species known to cause disease in humans. The best known species is Y pestis, the causative agent of plague, which is usually spread by bites from infected animals, such as fleas, rodents, or cats. Y. enterocolitica and, to lesser extent, Y. pseudotuberculosis are most likely associated with intestinal infection, but overall, both are a relatively infrequent cause of diarrhea and abdominal pain. More than 50 serotypes of Y. enterocolitica exist of these, serotypes 0 3, 0 8, and 0 9 are associated most frequently with enterocolitis. Infections are reported commonly from northern Europe, and the peak incidence occurs during the winter months. 

The situation in Europe changed towards the end of the 17th century. Improvements in sanitation produced a dramatic decline in the incidence of bubonic plague, whilst a mutation of the variola virus (the causative agent of smallpox) appears to have produced a more virulent strain. During the 18th century, most Europeans contracted smallpox and around one in five of the population (a total in excess of 50 million people) died from the disease. Localised epidemics could be even more devastating like the one of 1707 in Iceland, when 36% of the population died, or the one of 1719 in Paris, when 14000 of the population died. 

Traces of plague bacteria were found. Finally there were another 600 cases of plague in three other Chinese provinces which the Chinese ascribed to an inhuman act of our enemy . The detail certainly suggests that the incidents were more than mere propaganda stories. Whether they were isolated events or part of a systematic biological attack on China is unknown. 

The general outcome is the same in the US Aerosol propellants have been converted from HFC-134a to propane, isobutane, and n-butane without a plague of flammability incidents. 

Crosby further notes that to eliminate this waste (employees getting hurt), to improve the operation (incidents), to become more efficient, we must concentrate on preventing the defects and errors that plague us. 

---