Symptoms of Plague

Symptoms of plague tend to appear within one to six days of being infected. The actual time varies for each type of plague, as do the symptoms. However, common symptoms include fever, cough, and headache. In less than 10 percent of people with the disease, plague meningitis can develop. Symptoms of plague meningitis can include stiff neck, fever, headache, and coma.
 

Symptoms of Plague: An Overview

When a person becomes infected with the bacteria that cause plague (Yersinia pestis), the bacteria begin to multiply. After one to six days, symptoms of plague can occur. The period between becoming infected and the start of symptoms is called the plague incubation period. If they are not treated immediately, symptoms of plague can rapidly worsen, and death may occur.
 
There are three types of plague:
 
Each type has different symptoms. It is possible for a person to have symptoms of only one type; it is also possible for a person to experience symptoms from each of the types. For example, a person may first develop bubonic plague symptoms, followed several days later by septicemic plague symptoms, and then by pneumonic plague symptoms.
 

Symptoms of Plague: Bubonic Plague

 
  • Buboes (tender, enlarged lymph nodes found under the armpits, in the neck, or in the groin, ranging in size from 1 to 10 cm., in 70 percent of patients)
  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Chills
  • Abdominal pain
  • Diarrhea, which may be bloody
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Decreased appetite
  • Tiny broken blood vessels (called petechiae).
     
(Click Bubonic Plague Pictures to see photos of plague symptoms.)
 
(Symptoms of Plague Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD