A resident skinned a groundhog feed it to his dog and contracted pneumonic plague, the only one of the 3 strains of the disease that can be transmitted from human to human. After his hospitalization and death, the authorities have sealed the area off: the quarantine expires tomorrow, but 151 residents will remain under observation. Since 2002, WHO has reported a total of 7 outbreaks of pneumonic plague.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - Chinese health authorities have imposed a quarantine of 9 days on about 30 thousand residents of the ancient city of Yumen - in the northwestern province of Gansu - after a resident died of pneumonic plague. The area is completely isolated from the rest of the country: there is the risk of aerobic contagion which could prove devastating. Since 2002, the World Health Organization reported 7 pneumonic plague epidemics worldwide, and since 1998 there have been a total of 24 thousand deaths with 98% of cases occurring in Africa.

Pneumonic plague can be transmitted in two ways: the first is by inhalation of the bacteria through the respiratory channels; the second is through contact with a septic element that contains the plague bacterium. Often, especially in the cases reported in China, the infection comes from eating wild animals or having skinned them without the proper precautions. From about 10 cases reported in the country in the 1980s it has risen to about 100 cases in 1996 and more than 250 in the 2000s.  

The disease is manifested by a simple cough, which soon begins to show signs of blood; this is accompanied by a fever, headache, weakness and shortness of breath. If left untreated, pneumonic plague kills in 36 hours. Of the three strains of the plague, this is the only one that can be transmitted from human to human.

In the Yumen case, on July 16 a 38 year-old man, who had skinned a dead groundhog to feed his dog, felt the first symptoms that evening and was taken to the hospital, but two days later he died. Immediately after diagnosing the disease, the authorities imposed a quarantine: this ends tomorrow, but experts and pathologists are still working on 151 people considered most at risk because of their proximity to the victim and who are likely to remain isolated for another week.

 

• CHINA
• gansu
• plague
• quarantine
• isolation
• symptoms