Via La Gazette de la Grande Ile: Spread of plague: Malagasy prisoners are the first victims. This January 13 report is the first I've seen from the country in weeks, and even this is more analysis than update. The Google translation:
Madagascar has recorded 45% of plague cases reported in Africa. In 2012, Madagascar became the most heavily affected countries in the world, with 256 cases and 60 deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). In five years, 450 cases were recorded annual average of Madagascar.
A terrifying revelation insofar as the state of sanitation in the Big Island does not, for the moment, consider the eradication of the disease. The plague returns regularly in the Big Island, making each year dozens of deaths and the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon.
If you tend to worry about the health of the urban and rural population, the fate of those who occupy the Malagasy remained in jail closet. Scientists also involve unhealthy Malagasy prisons to explain the persistence of the disease in the country.
Overcrowding and poor hygiene in Malagasy prisons contribute largely to the ubiquity of the disease. Antanimora jail identifying 3,000 prisoners is infested with rats while the capacity is 900 people. Rats spread the disease by infecting fleas through clothing, linens and food. Overcrowding denounces poor sanitation facilities, including the presence of rats, the main vectors of the disease.
From 2009 to 2013, 500 cases were recorded on average on the island each year. Moreover, the epidemic is spread by rats pushed homes by uncontrolled deforestation of the island. During the year 2013, 8 districts are affected by the disease. 2013 record 75 319 people infected have died from the disease. Sources from the ministry, the late arrival of patients in the centers of health and ignorance of the details of the funeral of patients who did not survive are also the causes of the spread of the disease. Among other things, the spread of pneumonic plague has caused much ink, a highly contagious disease.
The permanence of the plague in Madagascar mainly reflects a personal and collective hygiene problem, proliferation is caused by rats carrying fleas. Beyond the emergency disinfection, despite the awareness, the annual number of victims tends to stagnate.