AN outbreak of bubonic plague in eastern Zambia has killed nine people in the past two weeks, a senior health official said. About 420 people had been treated for the disease. Four patients are seriously ill and have been hospitalised in eastern Zambia. The disease, which is spread by rats, has seriously affected the small rural town of Petauke, about 300km east of Lusaka, where schools have been closed to prevent it from spreading. – AFP