Plague as a Biological Weapon: Risk of Person-to-Person Transmission
Plague has received much attention because it may be used as a
biological weapon. Intentionally released aerosols would cause
pneumonic plague.
In order to prepare for such an event, it is important for
medical personnel and first responders to form a realistic idea
of the risk of person-to-person spread of infection. Historical
accounts and contemporary experience show that pneumonic plague
is not as contagious as it is commonly believed to be. Persons
with plague usually only transmit the infection when the disease
is in the endstage, when infected persons cough copious amounts
of bloody sputum, and only by means of close contact.
