Plague claims fourth Indian victim

About 8000 people have been given preventive antibiotics

NEW DELHI, India -- Four people are confirmed dead from pneumonic plague in northern India, but officials say the disease is contained.

Doctors had feared an outbreak of the plague after several people from a remote village of Himachal Pradesh state suffered fever, exhaustion and chest pains -- all symptoms of pneumonic plague.

"The sequence of tests collectively confirmed that the cases related to infection with yersinia pestis, commonly known as pneumonic plague," Federal Health Minister C.P. Thakur said.

The first victim died on February 4 after he had gone hunting in a forest last month and had been possibly infected by a wild rat, health officials said.

The highly contagious disease later killed three of his relatives, the last one on Monday. Twelve more infected people from the same village were being treated at nearby hospitals.

"The good news is that the disease has not spread to any other area and there have been no new cases in the last one week," Thakur said.

The World Health Organisation said the government had made "a commendable effort in containing the disease."

"We don't feel the need to issue any alert advising people to stay away from the area," said Robert Kim-Farley, a WHO representative in India.

"This disease has an incubation period of four to six days. Two incubation periods are out since the first case and there have been no new cases. This goes to show that the disease has been contained," Kim-Farley said.

He said WHO was not alarmed by the deaths since the affected area is known to be prone to outbreaks of the plague.

"Plague is endemic in many parts of India, and also in my country, the United States. It is no big deal so long as the disease is contained with timely intervention," he said.

Plague is commonly found in rodents, rabbits and certain meat-eating animals, especially those in higher elevations. Bubonic plague affects the lymph nodes, septicemic plague affects the blood and pneumonic plague affects the lungs.

The pneumonic and septicemic forms of plague lead to a quick death in almost all cases if not treated with antibiotics. Bubonic plague is fatal only about 60 percent of the time.

Thakur said about 8000 people in the affected area had been given preventive antibiotics. Most villages and transport vehicles had been fumigated and local authorities had been asked to stay on alert.