pneumonic plague

pneu·mon·ic plague

a rapidly progressive and frequently fatal form of plague in which there are areas of pulmonary consolidation, with chills, pain in the side, bloody expectoration, high fever, and possible human-to-human transmission.

Synonym(s): plague pneumonia, pulmonic plague

pneumonic plague

[no̅o̅mon′ik]

Etymology: Gk, pneumon, lung; L, plaga, stroke

a highly virulent and rapidly fatal form of plague characterized by bronchopneumonia. There are two forms: primary pneumonic plague, which results from involvement of the lungs in the course of bubonic plague, and secondary pneumonic plague, which results from the inhalation of infected particles of sputum from a person having pneumonic plague. Aerolized Yersinia pestis could be used to cause pneumonic plague in a bioterrorism attack. Compare bubonic plague, septicemic plague. See also plague, Yersinia pestis.

pneu·mon·ic plague

(nū-mon'ik plāg)

A rapidly progressive and frequently fatal form of plague in which there are areas of pulmonary consolidation, with chills, pain in the side, bloody expectoration, and high fever.
See also: Yersinia pestis

pneumonic plague

A severe and often fatal complication of bubonic PLAGUE in which the infection spreads to the lungs. Unlike bubonic plague, pneumonic plague can spread directly from case to case.

pneumonic plague

see BLACK DEATH.

plague

an epidemic of disease attended by great mortality.

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bubonic plague

an acute febrile, infectious, highly fatal disease caused by the bacillus Yersinia pestis. It is primarily a disease of rats and other rodents, dogs and cats, and is usually spread to humans by fleas. The more common form of plague is the bubonic. There is also a pneumonic type in humans, which can be spread directly from person to person by droplet infection. The clinical signs in all species are fever, vomiting and enlargement of lymph nodes, the buboes that give the disease its name.

cattle plague

see rinderpest.

duck plague

an acute infectious disease of ducks caused by a herpesvirus and characterized by tissue hemorrhages and blood free in body cavities, eruptions on the mucosae of the digestive tract, degeneration of parenchymatous organs and lesions in lymph nodes. Called also duck virus enteritis.

equine plague

see african horse sickness.

fowl plague

see avian influenza.

pneumonic plague

see bubonic plague (above).

septicemic plague

hematogenous spread of infection to many organs may occur without the formation of buboes; occurs in the cat with pulmonary involvement, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and death.

swine plague

see swine plague.

sylvatic plague

bubonic plague in wild animals in uninhabited areas. See also sylvatic plague.