Bubonic Plague in China: Village in Inner Mongolia region sealed after 2nd case

The disease which spreads very rapidly is caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals.

Chinese authorities have sealed off a village after a resident died of Bubonic plague. The village which falls in the Inner Mongolia region of the country was sealed after the reason for the victim’s death was ascertained to be Bubonic plague on Thursday, according to a CNN report. According to a statement issued by the Baotou Municipal Health Commission the death of the patient was reported on Sunday in the Baotou city. While the statement issued by the commission mentioned that the patient had died of circular system failure, it did not tell how the patient contracted the plague in the first place.

Bearing sharp criticism from the international community over its handling of the Covid-19 spread in the country, the Chinese authorities quickly swung in action and sealed off the village named Suji Xincun village. Though the tests of all residents of the village including the close contacts of the victim have tested negative, the administration has still put a total 35 close and secondary contacts under quarantine. In an attempt to keep the focus on the village and surrounding area, the Damao Banner district where the village is located, has been put on level 3 alert for plague prevention till the end of this year.

Earlier in July, another case of Bubonic plague was reported from the Bayannur city in the same inner Mongolia region. However the patient in the first case survived the disease and could be saved.

Though Plague has not re-surfaced in recent years in any part of the world, it had killed an estimated 50 million people alone in the European continent during the Black Death pandemic in the Middle Ages. The disease which spreads very rapidly is caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals.

According to the WHO estimates quoted by the CNN report, every year around 1000-2000 cases of Plague are reported from across the different parts of the world. Though various antibiotics and health measures have been devised by the scientific community to nip the spread in the nub, WHO has expressed concern over the recent rise in the number of Plague cases.