Plague kills three in China

An outbreak of the plague has killed three people in China and a town of 10,000 people sealed off, to halt the spread of one of the world’s most contagious diseases. The third person to die of the disease was a 64-year-old man who was a neighbour of the first two people to die from the pneumonic plague in north western china. He died on Sunday.

The first victim, a 32-year-old herdsman, fell sick after burying his dog, which had died suddenly. Two days later, the man was dead. Eleven of his friends and family, who were at his funeral in Ziketan, in western Qinghai province, soon fell ill. Police have set up checkpoints around Ziketan, as medics are disinfect the area and kill rats and insects. No one is being allowed leave the area, and the authorities are trying to track down people who had contact with those who died.

There are three human types of the disease and this type that has hit in China, Pneumonic plague is the most deadly. It is spread through the air or by coughing, from person to person or from animals to people. Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria that occur in bubonic plague, the so-called Black Death, which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages. “We’re not surprised that it’s come up,” said Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation. She said, “There have been sporadic cases reported over the years. We’re in constant contact with the authorities to make sure things are under control.”

The situation is under control, and schools and offices are open as usual, local officials in north western China told the BBC. A food seller at the Crystal Alley Market in Ziketan said that authorities had instructed that homes and shops should be disinfected and residents should wear masks when they went out. Eighty per cent of shops were closed, he told The Times newspaper and prices of disinfectants and some vegetables had tripled. “People are so scared,” he said. There are few people on the streets. There are police guarding the quarantine centre at the township hospital but not on the streets.”

Early symptoms of pneumonic plague include fever, headache and shortness of breath. And the local health bureau has warned anyone with a cough or fever who has visited the town since mid-July to seek medical treatment.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children