Plague vs. Ebola, COVID and Black Death: Key Differences Explained

Health officials are closely monitoring reports of a suspected plague case in Russia after a lab worker died, though authorities have not confirmed the cause. The CDC says it is watching the situation with interagency partners. The woman reportedly broke a test tube with live bacteria, but Russian health officials diagnosed pneumonia of unknown etiology. Plague has three forms, with pneumonic plague being the only one transmissible between people, and it can be fatal if untreated. Unlike COVID-19, plague is bacterial and treatable with antibiotics if caught early. Ebola has a similar fatality rate, but plague historically caused the "Black Death," killing over 50 million in 14th-century Europe.