Plague is spreading to new areas

plague cases are on the rise and are afflicting countries more frequently than before. A who report says there were around 1,900 cases worldwide in 2002, which increased to 2,100 cases in 2003. In India, 16 cases of pneumonic plague were identified in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, in 2002--after a gap of 20 years. Again in 2004, India reported an outbreak of bubonic plague in a village in Uttarakhand.

Three international meetings on plague were held recently in Oslo, London and Madagascar to find ways to contain the rising cases. The meetings concluded that the world should be prepared to tackle the epidemic at all times because the threat is imminent.

Global warning