Signs and Symptoms of Plague: Bubonic, Septicemic and Pneumonic

Plague looks different depending on how a person was infected. Its most common forms are bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.

The three most common forms of plague. CDC.

Bubonic plague

• Symptoms: fever, headache, chills and weakness, with one or more swollen, painful lymph nodes, called buboes.
• How it happens: usually from the bite of an infected flea. The bacteria multiply in a lymph node near where they entered the body.
• Incubation: 2 to 8 days.

Without the right antibiotics, the bacteria can spread to other parts of the body.

Septicemic plague

• Symptoms: fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and sometimes bleeding into the skin and other organs. Skin and other tissue may turn black and die, especially on the fingers, toes and nose.
• How it happens: from the bites of infected fleas or from handling an infected animal. It can be the first sign of plague, or develop from untreated bubonic plague.
• Incubation: not well defined, but probably within days of exposure.

Pneumonic plague

• Symptoms: fever, headache and weakness, with pneumonia that develops quickly — shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery mucus.
• How it happens: when bacteria spread to the lungs of someone with untreated bubonic or septicemic plague, or when a person breathes in infectious droplets coughed out by a person or animal with pneumonic plague.
• Incubation: after inhalation, as short as 1 day.

Pneumonic plague is the most serious form, and the only one that spreads from person to person.

Get care immediately

Plague is a serious illness. If you have symptoms like these, seek medical attention right away. Prompt treatment with the right medicines is critical to prevent complications or death.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Signs and Symptoms of Plague."