Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 58 (3): 459-468 (1980) Plague in Central Java, Indonesia

• Main Authors: J. E. Williams, B. W. Hudson, R. W. Turner, J. Sulianti Saroso, D. C. Cavanaugh, Immunochemistry Branch
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Rattus rattus
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.485.6059; http://whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/1980/vol58-no3/bullwho00426-0116.pdf

in Central Java. Infectedfleas, infected rats, and seropositive rats were collected in villages with human plague cases. Subsequent isolations of Yersinia pestis and seropositive rodents, detected during investigations ofrodentplague undertaken by the Government ofIndonesia and the WHO, attested to the persistence ofplague in the region from 1972 to 1974. Since 1968, the incidence of both rodent and human plague has been greatest from December to May at elevations over 1000 m. Isolations of Y. pestis were obtainedfrom the fleas Xenopsylla cheopis and Stivalius cognatus and the rats Rattus rattus diardii and R. exulans ephippium. The major risk to man has beenfleas infected with Y. pestis ofunique electrophoretic phenotype. Infectedfleas were collected most often in houses. Introduced in 1920, rodent plague hadpersisted in the Boyolali Regencyfor at least 54 years. The recent data support specific requirementsfor continued plague surveillance. Plague was introduced into Java late in 1910 and spread rapidly over the eastern quarter of the island (1). Large scale epidemics commenced in Central Java during 1915 and in West Java during 1923 (2-3).