Types of Plague (Cont.)

Types of Plague: Septicemic Plague

Septicemic plague occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood. It is contracted in the same way as bubonic plague, which is usually through a flea or rodent bite. Septicemic plague can also appear as a complication of untreated bubonic or pneumonic plague. The condition is rarely spread from person to person.
 
Symptoms of this type of plague include:
 
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Weakness
  • Abdominal pain
  • Shock
  • Bleeding underneath the skin or other organs (not buboes).
     

Types of Plague: Pneumonic Plague

Pneumonic plague is the most serious type of plague, and it occurs when Yersinia pestis bacteria infect the lungs and cause pneumonia.
 
Pneumonic plague can be contracted in one of two ways:
 
  • Primary pneumonic plague is contracted when infected droplets are inhaled. This type of plague can be spread to someone else.
  • Secondary pneumonic plague develops when bubonic or septicemic plague goes untreated, after the disease has spread to the lungs. At this point, the disease can be transmitted to someone else.
     
Within one to three days of exposure to airborne droplets of pneumonic plague, symptoms can occur, including:
 
  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Weakness
  • Rapid onset of pneumonia, with:
     
             o Shortness of breath
             o Chest pain
             o Cough
             o Bloody or watery sputum (saliva and discharge from
                respiratory passages).
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD