pneumonic plague /no̅o̅mon′ik/ [Gk, pneumon, lung; L, plaga, stroke] , a highly virulent and rapidly fatal form of plague characterized by bronchopneumonia. There are two forms: primary pneumonic plague, which results from involvement of the lungs in the course of bubonic plague, and secondary pneumonic plague, which results from the inhalation of infected particles of sputum from a person having pneumonic plague. Aerosolized Yersinia pestis could be used to cause pneumonic plague in a bioterrorism attack. Compare bubonic plague, septicemic plague. See also plague, Yersinia pestis.
