The World Health Organisation said Sunday it was boosting its response to the plague outbreak in Madagascar that has killed 24 people, as the government banned public meetings to reduce infections.

In a televised address Saturday, Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana said no public meetings or demonstrations would be allowed in the capital Antananarivo, which has seen six deaths in recent days.

After chairing a meeting with the UN health agency, he said: 'At airports and bus stations, measures will be taken for passengers to avoid panic and to control the disease.'

Madagascar has suffered plague outbreaks almost every year since 1980, often sparked by rats fleeing forest fires, but this disease is also spread person-to-person and around 100 people are thought to be infected.

The current outbreak of the plague in Madagascar was unusual as it had affected large urban areas, increasing the risk of transmission, the WHO warned

The current outbreak was unusual as it had affected large urban areas, increasing the risk of transmission, the WHO warned.

The outbreak is a mix of bubonic plague, which spreads by infected rats via flea bites, and pneumonic plague spread person-to-person.

The highly infectious disease killed millions of people across the world in the past before being largely wiped out.

'WHO is concerned that plague could spread further because it is already present in several cities and this is the start of the epidemic season,' Charlotte Ndiaye, WHO representative in Madagascar, said in a statement Sunday.

'Our teams are on the ground in Madagascar providing technical guidance.'

The first death this year occurred on August 28 when a passenger died in a public taxi en route to a town on the east coast.

Two others who came into contact with the passenger also died.

BUBONIC PLAGUE: WIPED OUT A THIRD OF EUROPE IN THE 14TH CENTURY Bubonic plague is one of the most devastating diseases in history, having killed around 100million people during the 'Black Death' in the 14th century. Drawings and paintings from the outbreak, which wiped out about a third of the European population, depict town criers saying 'bring out your dead' while dragging trailers piled with infected corpses. It is caused by a bacterium known as Yersinia pestis, which uses the flea as a host and is usually transmitted to humans via rats. The disease causes grotesque symptoms such as gangrene and the appearance of large swellings on the groin, armpits or neck, known as 'buboes'. It kills up to two thirds of sufferers within just four days if it is not treated, although if antibiotics are administered within 24 hours of infection patients are highly likely to survive. After the Black Death arrived in 1347 plague became a common phenomenon in Europe, with outbreaks recurring regularly until the 18th century. Bubonic plague has almost completely vanished from the rich world, with 90 per cent of all cases now found in Africa. However, there have been a few non-fatal cases in the U.S. in recent years, while in August 2013 a 15-year-old boy died in Kyrgyzstan after eating a groundhog infected with the disease. Three months later, an outbreak in a Madagascan killed at least 20 people in a week. A year before 60 people died as a result of the infection, more than in any other country in the world. Outbreaks in China have been rare in recent years, and most have happened in remote rural areas of the west. China's state broadcaster said there were 12 diagnosed cases and three deaths in the province of Qinghai in 2009, and one in Sichuan in 2012. In the United States between five and 15 people die every year as a result, mostly in western states. Advertisement

Officials are trying to identify people who came into contact with a basketball coach from the Seychelles who died of plague in Antananarivo on Wednesday while visiting the island for a sports event.

Plague can be cured with antibiotics but can be fatal within 24 hours if it affects the lungs.

On Saturday, the health ministry said the death toll had risen to 24 from 19 on Thursday, with more than 100 infected.

The recurrent outbreaks in Madagascar have been attributed to poor hygiene and insufficient healthcare.

The government said one girl among the dead had apparently been involved in a ceremony retrieving the bodies of deceased family members, rewrapping their remains and dancing with the corpses.

WHO has released $300,000 in emergency funds, as well as extra supplies of antibiotics and protective equipment.

It appealed for $1.5 million to fund the emergency response.