The role of commensal rodents and their ectoparasites in the ecology and transmission of plague in Southeast Asia.

Plague has been endemic in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) since 1898. Prior to 1962, outbreaks of the disease were chiefly confined to the Mekong Delta and to the coastal provinces to the east of Saigon. Since 1962, an alarming increase in the incidence of human plague in RVN has been noted; some 13,417 suspected cases were reported for the period (Table 1). Most of these suspected cases of plague have been reported from areas in which the disease was previously unrecognized.”’o”