1.   He may have been forced to by a plague outbreak that hit Haarlem soon after he left.

2.   Many things are likely to remain uncertain in Surat, the industrial boomtown that is the epicenter of the worst plague outbreak to strike anywhere in decades.

3.   Medical officials said that there appeared to be two possible causes of the plague outbreak.

4.   Much of the recrimination over the plague outbreak has been directed at the government of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

5.   Planes dropped plague-infected fleas over Ningbo in eastern China and over Changde in north-central China, and plague outbreaks were later reported.

6.   The death toll from the plague outbreak, believed to be the first confirmed incidence of pneumonic plague anywhere in the world for decades, continued to be disputed.

7.   The plague outbreak that struck India this year caused more panic than was warranted.

8.   Throughout the Middle Ages, plague outbreaks inspired flagellants to walk from town to town whipping themselves to atone for the sins of others.

9.   This winter, in the aftermath of the plague outbreak that stunned India in October, many foreign tourists have stayed away.

10.   Hotels and travel agents have reported a rash of cancellations because of the plague outbreak, prompting the government tourism department to call for emergency measures.