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Epidemiology expert Professor Allen Cheng said it is crucial to stop the spread amid claims the disease has reached “crisis point” with over five months to go until the end of plague season.

The medieval disease has swept through Madagascar, infecting thousands of people and killing hundreds in the worst outbreak of the Black Death in 50 years.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) described the outbreak as "uncharacteristic" and drastic measures have been put in place to stop it spreading.

This has included closing schools and sending supplies and medical officials to affected regions.

(Image: GETTY)

Professor Cheng, who specialises in epidemiology and preventative medicine at Monash University, said current measures that have been introduced are needed for the “degree of risk”.

Rules including screening travellers and preparing countries for an outbreak have been out in place over fears the deadly disease could become a global pandemic.

Ron Klain, who led the response in the United States to the Ebola crisis, indicated a fourth pandemic could be on the way.

He said: “We still are not ready for the big one.

“We’re frankly not ready for a medium-sized one. The threat is still out there.”

And speaking to Daily Star Online, Professor Chen said: “It is important that we get this outbreak under control, and in the longer term to reduce plague cases in the country as much as possible.”

But the disease expert said the plague outbreak had exposed key weaknesses in how the world deals with epidemics, which could save millions of lives in the future.

He continued: “A lot has been learned with recent outbreaks – Ebola, Swine Flu, MERS. They do have a habit of exposing gaps in our response – Ebola clearly was out of control in West Africa and an international response was slow.

“The outbreak of MERS in South Korea demonstrated how important it is for countries even far away from the centre of the problem to be prepared, and Swine Flu showed us how we need to be flexible in our responses to respond to changing evidence about the severity of the disease.

“I think we're better prepared than we were even a few years ago, but there are always gaps that can and should be closed, particularly in mobilising international resources.”

(Image: GETTY)

His comments come as WHO warned “unusually severe” plague outbreak poses totally different risks today than when it killed 50 million people in the 14th century.

Dr Sylvie Briand, Director of WHO’s Infectious Hazard Management Department, said: “An outbreak of plague no longer unfolds in the manner portrayed by our history books.

“Plague is an old disease, but the challenges it poses today are contemporary and fundamentally different from what we had even 40 years ago.”

But despite the seriousness of the outbreak and how deadly it is, Dr Cheng said the world should be far more worried about other contagious diseases.

He added: “Because of the way that plague is transmitted, I wouldn't be so concerned about this disease outside of the current hotspot, but more transmissible diseases such as flu are an ever-present risk.”