Bubonic Plague Found in a Herder in Inner Mongolia, China Says

A city put control measures in place after one confirmed case of the disease, which caused the Black Death in the Middle Ages.

A herdsman in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia was confirmed to be infected with bubonic plague, health officials said, a reminder of how even as the world battles a pandemic caused by a novel virus, old threats remain.

The Bayannur city health commission said the plague was diagnosed in the herdsman on Sunday, and he was in stable condition undergoing treatment at a hospital.

The commission also issued a third-level alert, the second lowest in a four-level system, warning people against hunting, eating or transporting potentially infected animals, particularly marmots, and to report any dead or diseased rodents.

The city government said it had put in place plague-prevention measures that would remain in force for the rest of the year.

The disease, which caused the Black Death in the Middle Ages, is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and is transmitted by fleas that become infected by rodents. In Inner Mongolia, the host is often marmots that live in rural areas.

In November, Beijing officials said two people from Inner Mongolia were found to have pneumonic plague, another form of plague caused by the same bacterium. Pneumonic plague is the only form that can be transmitted person to person, through respiratory droplets.

If not treated, pneumonic plague is invariably fatal, while bubonic plague is fatal in about 30 percent to 60 percent of untreated cases, the World Health Organization says. Antibiotics can cure the disease if delivered early.

The neighboring country of Mongolia was also investigating a suspected case of bubonic plague involving a 15-year-old, who had apparently been in contact with a marmot hunted by a dog, The Global Times said on Twitter. On Monday, Mongolia announced that it had lifted restrictions in Khovd Province after two cases of bubonic plague linked to the consumption of marmot meat were reported a week ago. Health officials said the patients’ conditions had improved, the Ikon.mn news site reported.

Plague cases are found in limited numbers across much of the world. In the United States, about seven cases, usually the bubonic form, are reported on average each year, most often in rural areas of western states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Russia cracks down on marmot hunting after suspected bubonic plague cases

Possible outbreaks in China and Mongolia have brought bans on hunting and eating the rodents, which can carry the disease.

Russia has stepped up patrols to stop people hunting marmots near its border with China and Mongolia after the countries reported possible cases of bubonic plague, which can be carried by the animals.

Authorities in Bayan Nur, a city in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, issued a warning on Sunday after a hospital reported a suspected case of the deadly disease.

The Chinese region forbade the hunting and eating of the large rodents and asked the public to report any suspected cases, as well as any sick or dead marmots.

Neighbouring Mongolia also reported two cases of bubonic plague linked to people eating marmot meat in its western Khovd province last week.

Authorities in Russia’s Altai region, which borders Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia, said officials were patrolling the area to enforce a ban on hunting marmots and to warn people about the dangers, TASS news agency reported.

The local branch of Rospotrebnadzor, the consumer health watchdog, said the cases across the border did not pose a threat to people in Altai, TASS reported.

The bubonic plague, known as the Black Death in the Middle Ages, is a highly infectious and often fatal disease that is spread mostly by rodents. however it can be treated with commonly available antibiotics. Bubonic plague outbreaks have become increasingly rare.

7 July 2020

The New York Times & The Guardian