Plague: Madagascar outbreak feared out of control as cops seize bodies

Source: Plague: Madagascar outbreak feared out of control as cops seize bodies | Daily Star

Madagascar remains ravaged by the pneumonic plague that is believed to have killed more than 143 people across the African island.

Cases have risen by 8% in just one week and scientists frantically working to make sure the airborne infection doesn’t spread to mainland Africa.

Aid workers on the ground have now revealed their battle with the plague.

They spoke out about how some families are refusing to hand over infected bodies, and other victims are refusing to go to the doctor.

Nine countries are now on high alert amid fears the plague could go global.

“The police come to take the body. This is terrible.”

WHO official

Pneumonic plague – a relative of the Black Death – can kill in as little as 24 hours and there have been nearly 2,000 cases reported in Madagascar.

Medication to treat the plague is free, but many are refusing to seek help, aid workers revealed, reports South African newspaper Mail & Guardian.

Fantasia Ranjavelontsalana, a volunteer, said: “They are afraid to go to the doctor because even a simple cough can be diagnosed as plague and people are afraid of that.”

Meanwhile, some families are not giving back the bodies of the dead – with the police having to seize the infected corpses.