Surveillance on Plague in Natural Foci in Georgia

Plague is one of the oldest and most devastating recorded human diseases. Several epidemics of plague have occurred in the territory of Georgia. In 1933, the Transcaucasian Anti-Plague Center was established in Tbilisi. There are two natural foci of plague in the territory of Georgia: plain–foothill and high mountainous. The Georgian Anti-Plague Station carried out active surveillance on natural foci. In the plain–foothill focus, plague epizootics were established in 1966 and in 1968–1971. In the high-mountainous focus, plague epizootics were established in 1979–1983 and in 1992–1997. A total of 122 strains of Yersinia pestis were isolated in Georgia – 83 in the plain–foothill focus and 39 in the highmountainous focus; 46 strains are kept at the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health’s Microbial Library. Although no new isolates were obtained in recent years, the plague foci in Georgia are so close to populated areas that they must be under permanent control to be able to respond rapidly to emergencies.