Woman's Death Takes Peru Pneumonic Plague Toll to Three

The death of a 29-year-old woman from pneumonic plague has brought the number of plague victims in Peru to three in two months, the health ministry said.

Rosa Carranza, who had been seriously ill for 36 days before succumbing to the plague in the coastal province of Ascope, some 325 miles (520 kilometers) northwest of Lima, died in hospital Thursday.

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Since late June the other two deaths were from bubonic plague, officials said, along with 31 more people who have been infected.

Health Minister Oscar Ugarte stressed the outbreak "has been controlled" and blamed the situation on the expansion of farming in the region that have prompted rodent infestations in nearby towns.

According to the World Health Organization, bubonic plague is the most common form of plague, caused by infected flea bites or direct contact with infected animals like rodents.

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Pneumonic plague by contrast is transmitted only between humans and is related to the initial spread of a form of bubonic plague.

The last outbreak of bubonic plague in northern Peru was in 1994, which killed 35 people and infected over 1,100 others.

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Source-AFP

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