China reported a case of Bubonic Plague
WHO says monitoring the situation in China
The World
Health Organization (WHO) said it was monitoring a case of bubonic plague in
China after being reported by the authorities in Beijing. A herdsman in China's
northern Inner Mongolia region was confirmed at the weekend to have the bubonic
plague. The man stated to be in a stable condition in hospital.
According to
China's official news agency Xinhua, two other cases were confirmed in Khovd
province in neighbouring Mongolia last week involving brothers, who had eaten
marmot meat. Xinhua said that in neighbouring Mongolia, another suspected case,
involving a 15-year-old boy who had a fever after eating a marmot hunted by a
dog, was reported on Monday.
WHO spokeswoman
Margaret Harris told reporters through a video conference that “bubonic plague
has been with us and is always with us, for centuries. We are looking at the
case numbers in China. It's being well managed. At the moment, we are not
considering it high-risk but we're watching it, monitoring it carefully."
She said the
WHO was working in partnership with the Chinese and Mongolian authorities. The
UN health agency said it was notified by China on July 6 of a case of bubonic
plague in Inner Mongolia.
"Plague
is rare, typically found in selected geographical areas across the globe where
it is still endemic," the agency said, adding that sporadic cases of
plague have been reported in China over the last decade.
"Bubonic
plague is the most common form and is transmitted between animals and humans
through the bite of infected fleas and direct contact with carcases of infected
small animals. It is not easily transmitted between people."
Though the
highly-contagious plague is rare in China and can be treated, at least five
people have died from it since 2014, according to China's National Health
Commission.
Historically,
it has also been called the Black Death, in reference to the gangrenous
blackening and death of body parts, such as the fingers and toes that can
happen with the illness. A person usually becomes ill with bubonic plague
between two and six days after being infected.
Along with
the tender, enlarged lymph nodes, that can be as large as a chicken egg, other
symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and tiredness.
The current
alert in China forbids the hunting and eating of animals that could carry
plague. Plague still exists in many parts of the world. In recent years there
have been outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar. Although
plague has been the cause of widespread disease outbreaks in medieval times,
any outbreaks today are thankfully small.
BBC has quoted
Dr Matthew Dryden, consultant microbiologist at the University of Southampton
in the UK, said: "It is good that this has been picked up and reported at
an early stage because it can be isolated, treated and spread prevented.
"Bubonic
plague is caused by a bacterium and so, unlike Covid-19, is readily treated
with antibiotics. So although this might appear alarming, being another major
infectious disease emerging from the East, it appears to be a single suspected
case which can be readily treated."
Rukhsana Manzoor Deputy Editor
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