Primary Pneumonic Plague

• Progression of Disease
• Pneumonic plague is rapidly progressive. Patients experience increasing dyspnea, stridor, and cyanosis. Rapidly progressive respiratory failure and sepsis within 2 to 4 days of onset of illness is typical of pneumonic plague.
• Chest x-rays can be variable but frequently show bilateral patchy infiltrates or consolidation.
• Shock, including hypotension and multi-organ failure, may also occur. Without early detection and treatment within 24 hours of symptom onset, pneumonic plague is almost universally fatal.