@article{PAR00009794,
  title = {{P}lague : history and contemporary analysis},
  author = {{R}aoult, {D}idier and {M}ouffok, {N}. and {B}itam, {I}. and {P}iarroux, {R}. and {D}rancourt, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{P}lague has caused ravaging outbreaks, including the {J}ustinian plague and the "black death" in the {M}iddle {A}ges. {T}he causative agents of these outbreaks have been confirmed using modern molecular tests. {T}he vector of plague during pandemics remains the subject of controversy. {N}owadays, plague must be suspected in all areas where plague is endemic in rodents when patients present with adenitis or with pneumonia with a bloody expectorate. {D}iagnosis is more difficult in the situation of the reemergence of plague, as in {A}lgeria for example, told by the first physician involved in that outbreak ({NM}). {W}hen in doubt, it is preferable to prescribe treatment with doxycycline while waiting for the test results because of the risk of fatality in individuals with plague. {T}he typical bubo is a type of adenitis that is painful, red and nonfluctuating. {T}he diagnosis is simple when microbiological analysis is conducted. {P}lague is a likely diagnosis when one sees gram-negative bacilli in lymph node aspirate or biopsy samples. {Y}ersinia pestis grows very easily in blood cultures and is easy to identify by biochemical tests and {MALDI}-{TOF} mass spectrometry. {P}neumonic plague and septicemic plague without adenitis are difficult to diagnose, and these diagnoses are often made by chance or retrospectively when cases are not part of an epidemic or related to another specific epidemiologic context. {T}he treatment of plague must be based on gentamicin or doxycycline. {T}reatment with one of these antibiotics must be started as soon as plague is suspected. {A}nalysis of past plague epidemics by using modern laboratory tools illustrated the value of epidemic buboes for the clinical diagnosis of plague; and brought new concepts regarding its transmission by human ectoparasites.},
  keywords = {{P}lague ; {Y}ersinia pestis ; {B}lack death ; {L}ouse ; {R}eemergence},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{J}ournal of {I}nfection},
  volume = {66},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {18--26},
  ISSN = {0163-4453},
  year = {2013},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.jinf.2012.09.010},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/{PAR}00009794},
}