According to a media report from China, a city in the northern part of the country has been alerted over a suspected case of bubonic plague.
The state-run media house People’s Daily online reported that a level 3 warning of plague prevention and control has been announced in the Bayannur of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The case of bubonic plague was reported on Saturday from a hospital in Bayannur. The local authorities have announced that the warning period will extend until the end of 2020. The local authority said,
“At present, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in this city. The public should improve its self-protection awareness and ability, and report abnormal health conditions promptly.”
Another state-run news agency Xinhua reported that two cases of bubonic plague in the western region of Mongolia were confirmed by lab results on the 1st of July. The two cases are of a 27-year-old resident of the region and his 17-year-old brother. Both of them are treated in separate hospitals in the region. Reportedly, the brothers ate marmot meat and hence the authorities have warned people of eating marmot meat. A total of 146 people had come in contact with the brothers. All of them have been isolated at local hospitals.
According to the World Health Organisation, bubonic plague is a bacterial disease that is spread by fleas living in wild rodents like a marmot. If not treated in time, it can kill a human under 24 hours. Last year, a couple had died of bubonic plague in the western region of Mongolia after they consumed marmot meat.
The news of the deadly plague comes after Chinese scientists warned of an influenza virus found in pigs that has the potential to be a pandemic.
Swine Flu In China
As per the new study that was published in the United States science journal PNAS, a type of swine flu named G4 has surfaced in the country again. The G4 is genetically descended from the strain of H1N1 that caused a pandemic in the year 2009. As per the study by the United States, the G4 virus contains all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans. This was told by the scientists at the Chinese universities and China’s center for Disease control and prevention.
Source: NDTV
