Threat of bubonic plague in Chinese city

A city in northern China has sounded an alert after a suspected case of bubonic plague was reported. This is according to the official Chinese media. The city is caled Bayannur and is located in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A level 3 warning of plague prevention and control has been announced.

Local health authorities said that there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in the city. “The public should improve its self-protection awareness and ability, and report abnormal health conditions promptly,” said the warning.

On 1 July two suspected cases of bubonic plague were reported in a province in western Mongolia. These have been confirmed by lab test results. The two who are being treated are brothers who ate marmot meat. Marmots are large squirrels. Over one hundred people who came into contact with them have been isolated.

Bubonic plague is a bacterial disease that is spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots. It can kill an adult in less than 24 hours if not treated in time, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The news of bubonic plague came after Chinese researchers issued an early warning over another potential pandemic caused by an influenza virus in pigs.

The new diseases were reported even as China is battling with the second attack of COVID-19 in Beijing after controlling it in Wuhan where it was first reported in December last year.