Town Sealed As Third Pneumonic Plague Death Raises Alarm In China

by Yuliya Talmazan | August 3, 2009 at 03:49 pm

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A highly contagious airborne infection called pneumonic plague is causing a healthcare concern in northwest China. The deadly infection caused by bacteria Yersenia pestis has already led to three deaths and sickened ten people in a remote farming town of Ziketan in Tibetan region of China. It is known that that the two men who died of infection were neighbors and knew each other. As the result, Chinese officials decided to seal off the town of 10,000 people to limit the spread of the infection. Residents are advised to disinfect their homes and wear masks in public. Pneumonic plague is capable to kill within 24 hours of exposure, although it is curable with antibiotics.

The first victim was a 32-year-old herdsman who died Thursday, four days after falling ill with a fever and cough. State radio reported that the man contracted the illness from his dog, which apparently was infected when it was bitten by a flea. The herdsman's 37-year-old neighbor died Sunday and a 64-year-old man died Monday.

A woman who lives in Ziketan, who refused to give her name, said county officials distributed flyers and made TV and radio announcements on how to prevent infection.

The World Health Organization office in China said it was in close contact with Chinese health authorities and that measures taken so far to treat and quarantine sickened people were appropriate. It did not comment on the move to seal off the town.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria that causes bubonic plague — the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages. Bubonic plague is usually transmitted by flea bites.