Symptoms and Diagnosis

           To be diagnosed with any form of Plague, lab testing must be done. (“Plague” W.H.O.) The Bubonic form of the disease initiates itself two to five days after exposure. Symptoms of this form include: chills, fever, a general ill feeling (malaise), headache, muscle pain, seizures, and smooth, painful lumps called buboes. (“Plague” (A.D.A.M.) “Two to five days after infection with Bubonic Plague, patients experience a sudden fever, chills, seizures, and severe headaches, followed by the appearance of swelling or buboes…” (“Plague” World of Health) The Pneumonic form initiates itself two to three days after exposure. Symptoms of this form include: a severe cough, difficulty breathing, fever, frothy, bloody serum, and chest pain. The Septicemic form has symptoms of stomach pain, bleeding, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting. (“Plague” A.D.A.M.) All types of this disease compare to Anthrax, Bacillary Bysentary, Botulism, Brucellosis, Cholera, Glardiasis, Hepatitis, Paratyphoid, and Typhoid Fever. (History of Epidemics and Plagues” (October 2011))