Plague 1
Plague 1 : Medicine. An acute infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis. Under normal conditions, humans become infected as a result of contact with rodents and their fleas. In a biological warfare scenario, the plague bacillus could be delivered by means of contaminated vectors (fleas) causing the bubonic type or, more likely, by means of aerosol causing the pneumonic type. The incubation period is 2 to 8 days following the bite of an infected flea and is characterized by high fever; chills; prostration; enlarged, painful lymph nodes known as buboes, located particularly in the groin or under the arms. The bacteria can invade the blood stream leading to the septicemic form of the disease. Subsequent invasion of the lungs causes a rapidly fatal form known as pneumonic plague that can be transmitted from person-to-person via airborne respiratory droplets. The agent is highly infectious by the aerosol route and most populations are completely susceptible
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