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The seasonal outbreak of pneumonic plague in Madagascar killed two more people, bringing the number of victims to four, said Saturday the Ministry of Health.
The last deaths were "a couple in their forties, died September 18" in the central city of Miarinarivo.
Sixteen cases of suspected plague were identified between 1 August and 20 September, five of which were confirmed.
Health Minister Yoel Rantomalala said Thursday that the epidemic was "under control".
The first death was recorded in Fiadanana, 300 kilometers north of the capital Antananarivo, while the second was reported in Ambalavao, in the Indian Ocean island.
Last year, more than 200 people were killed before the outbreaks of bubonic and pneumonic plague were brought under control in November.
According to UN estimates, an average of 300 to 600 infections are recorded each year in a population approaching 25 million people.
The germ Yersinia pestis can be transmitted to humans by infected fleas. It can also be transmitted from human to human by the cough droplets of a person with a pneumonic form of the disease.
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Madagascar states that the plague epidemic is "under control"
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