PLAGUE IN THE U.S.: PRESENT AND FUTURE

Authors

Allan M. Barnes, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Date of this Version

March 1990

Document Type

Article

Abstract

An increasing trend in the frequency of human bubonic plague cases in the United States, the principal sources of human infection, and emerging control techniques are described. Development of an integrated control program involving public health education, citizen participation in plague surveillance, and insecticidal control of flea vectors in response to evidence of plague and potential human exposure substantially reduced human plague cases in a Bernalillo County, New Mexico, hyperendemic plague area. Permethrin 0.5% dust (Pyraperm 455) applied at a rate of 7 g per burrow was found to provide effective control of flea vectors for at least 6 weeks.