

Madagascar village 'hit by bubonic plague' - rb2e
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25324011

======
Renaud
Madagascar is such a beautiful country, with lots of natural resources (oil,
rare timber, minerals) and 90% of its fauna and flora is endemic. It's huge,
has almost any kind of scenery you could wish and is easily one of the most
interesting places to visit on earth.

Those interested should check out Sir David Attenborough's 4 part series on
Madagascar:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/collections/p00db3n8](http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/collections/p00db3n8)

Yet it suffers from extreme poverty, an unbelievable level of corruption at
all levels, and an education system that leaves everyone behind (school isn't
free, so most kids can't afford it).

In recent decades, poverty has made the population desperate, levels of
violence have risen, kidnappings are common, there is no real reason to think
that the current elections are going to solve anything, those aspiring to be
in power have proven to be as corrupted as those who are already in place.

On top of that, during the cyclone season (hurricane/typhoon if you come from
other parts of the world), the island becomes a giant target and gets hammered
by bad weather: houses destroyed, roads cuts, etc

In that context, it isn't surprising to learn that old diseases like the
bubonic plague could easily get a hold; sanitation isn't high in the list of
priorities.

~~~
Fomite
"In that context, it isn't surprising to learn that old diseases like the
bubonic plague could easily get a hold; sanitation isn't high in the list of
priorities."

It should be noted that plague is still transmitted in the American Southwest
on a sporadic, but regular basis.

------
atdt
"And, indeed, as he listened to the cries of joy rising from the town, Rieux
remembered that such joy is always imperiled. He knew what those jubilant
crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague
bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years
and years in furniture and linen- chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms,
cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when,
for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and
send them forth to die in a happy city." \-- Camus, "The Plague".

------
soogan
Is it too soon to say they should have closed their seaport?

~~~
pekk
Will we crack such jokes if disease hits, say, Berlin? Or there is a reprise
of 9/11? No, we won't, because it isn't some third-world country full of
"colored people."

What a disgrace.

~~~
verbin217
Are you aware of the meme? There was a risk-like game where you played the
role of a deadly disease. The game mechanics often left Madagascar as the last
hold out of humanity.

[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shut-down-
everything](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shut-down-everything)

------
joseph_cooney
I never realized until recently how the high mobility of goods, flexible trade
system etc. brought about by the rise of the Mongol empire a few centuries
before, allowed the Bubonic Plague to spread from south-east asia through to
the middle east and europe in a relatively short time. Your greatest strength
is also your greatest weakness.

~~~
ekianjo
Mobility of goods has been overall more positive to those involved than
negative, all factors included.

~~~
sliverstorm
In the long-term, sure, but when it wiped out a third of Europe, that was
definitely not more positive than negative.

~~~
ekianjo
You fail to see the bigger picture: \- exchange of knowledge/technology \-
exchange of goods \- exchange of cultural assets (goods, ideas and languages)
\- establishment of trade routes and advancement of transportation systems
(roads, sea routes)

It was massively positive overall. And while the plague killed many people,
mankind learned a lot from it: we lacked hygiene and we were able to identify
measured to further protect ourselves from such afflictions.

~~~
Mvandenbergh
We didn't learn anything from it, we had no idea what caused the Black Death
until well into the modern age, centuries after it actually happened.

------
mehmehshoe
Funny, I've been wondering when that little bug was going to surface again.
Interesting that it sprung up in a relatively secluded island nation which
would be comparatively easy to quarantine. If that hit in the slums of India
or Brazil...CDC would be losing their shit right now.

Speaking of the CDC, nothing about the outbreak on their website right now.
Neither in the news or outbreak sections. I also checked the travel section
and the plague does not show up on the radar as a disease with a history in
that nation.

~~~
tsotha
Bubonic plague is a common problem with wildlife in California, which has
which has wild reservoirs. CDC isn't "losing their shit" because this is
something they already manage.

~~~
Fomite
California and much of the Western U.S. It's actually gotten worse in recent
years as urban areas push into formerly wild areas.

