My friend Jenny was asking me the other day about a lung bacterium in China which can kill you in 24 hours. I looked into it and discovered that the bacterium she was referring to is actually Yersinia pestis, which is responsible for the plague.
Yes, THE plague.
When Y. pestis gets into the lungs, its called the "pneumonic plague". And yes, it can kill you within 24 hours if it goes untreated. Administering antibiotics within the first 24 hours is critical.
The World Health Organization reports that between 1998 and 2008, nearly 24,000 cases were reported and around 2,000 deaths. Most cases occur in Africa.
For more fun facts about the plague, go here (It's actually an interesting and easy to remember fact list. Makes for great dinner convo with the in-laws.)
China has had it before, so its nothing new or alarming. In April of this year, over 10 were infected, causing the quarantine of a village. Read more about that here.
Note: Facebookers, to see the spiffy photos of Y. pestis (it glows!), click here to go to Lab Geek. Or you could just be lame and not see the photos.
But that's no fun.
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