China: No more plague risk

By David Liu (davidl@foodconsumer.org)

China has ended a quarantine blockage, which was imposed on July 30, around a northwestern town where a pneumonic plague occurred, Reuters cited Xinhua news agency as reporting late on Saturday.

The plague outbreak reportedly killed three villagers around Ziketan Town in Qinghai province, one of the poorest provinces in the country, Xinhua reported.

The outbreak was well contained and last week no new cases of the highly infectious disease were reported, promoting authorities to lift the blockage on the remote town of 10,000 residents.

Sporadic outbreaks of the pheumonic plague are reported occasionally in China. The disease is spread largely by rodents and fleas, but it can spread easily from person to person.

plague, an infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, affects animals and humans. The bacterium can survive in air for about one hour and tainted air can spread the disease resulting in severe illness in people.  The disease can kill 30 to 60 percent of patients should they not receive treatment.

Pneumonic plague is one form of the plague that occurs when Y. pestis infects the lungs.  This  type of plague can spread from person to person through the air.

Another form of the plague is Bubonic plague, which is the most common form that occurs when an infected flea bites a person or when materials tainted with Y. pestis enter through a break in a person's skin.

Septicemic plague is the third type, which occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood. This type leading to the development of fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into skin and other organs, does not spread from person to person.

Pneumonic plague causes symptoms including fever, headache, weakness, and symptoms associated with pneumonia such as shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery sputum.  The pneumonia can last 2 to 4 days and may cause respiratory failure and shock.  Without quick treatment, infected people may die.

To treat pneumonic plague and reduce death risk, antibiotics must be given within 24 hours of first symptoms showing up.  Streptomycin, gentamicin, the tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol are effective at treating pneumonic plague.