According to a report in the WHO GOARN site (dated 11 February, 2015), the plague outbreak in Madagascar, which began in September, and reached a peak between November and end of December, has started to slow down finally. This was found after the completion of the second round of a survey supported by the Plague Central Laboratory of the Institut Pasteur. Things were made worse after heavy rains, tropical storm and floods hit the island nation in the middle of January, requiring the initiation of close observation of the situation.
The website further states:
Altogether and since September 2014, 263 cases, including 71 deaths, have been reported to date, representing a case fatality rate of 27%. The district of Amparafavarola in the central highlands has been the most heavily affected area, where cases of pneumonic plague continued to be reported during the first week of January.
A grant of US$ 1 million has been provided to the nation by the African Development Bank for the purpose of controlling plague and other diseases with epidemic potential and shall be disbursed and spent under the guidance go the WHO.
Plague has long been a problematic issue with the island nation of Madagascar, which has been one of the plague hotspots the world over.
Scepticemia 