 |
| Credit Wikipedia |
#14,529
Earlier this week, in HK CHP Notification Of Two Plague Cases Being Treated In China, we looked at reports of two patients from Inner Mongolia being treated for pneumonic plague in Beijing.
And for the past several days - despite aggressive censorship by the Chinese Government - there has been a lot of (unconfirmed) chatter on Weibo (a micro blogging site) - and in the dissident press - suggesting that there are more cases, and they are being covered up.While rumors often prove unfounded, what we do have this morning is confirmation from Inner Mongolia's Ministry of Health that a 3rd (this time, bubonic) plague case has been identified, and that aggressive screening of patients is ongoing.
First, this (translated) press release from Inner Mongolia's MOH.
A patient in Xilin Gol League was diagnosed as a bubonic plague in Huade County, taking practical measures to increase prevention and control.
Release time: 2019-11-17 05:03:46 Manuscript: Li Chengcheng Editor: Huang Lihua Editor: Chai Yujia
On November 16, 2019, a person from the Bayin Tara Sumu quarry in Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, during the visit to the Huade County Hospital in Wulanchabu City, repeatedly had fever and was diagnosed as a confirmed case of bubonic plague by expert consultation.
The patient, male, 55 years old, had been stripped of hare in the quarry on November 5, 2019. Currently, there is no epidemiological association between this case and the first two cases. At present, the patient has been isolated and treated in Huade County Hospital, Wulanchabu City, and relevant prevention and control measures have been implemented. 28 close contacts, have been in isolation medical observation, there is no abnormal performance such as fever.
In addition, the medical observations of close contacts of the 2 cases diagnosed on November 12, 2019 showed no abnormalities such as fever.
(Continue . . . )
And from the same agency, a (translated) description of the steps they are taking to detect and contain the disease, which was published 3 days ago.
Xilin Gol League is fully committed to the prevention and control of plague
Release date: 2019-11-14 10:19
Inner Mongolia Xilin Gol League Health and Health Committee, Beijing Chaoyang District Health and Health Committee on the evening of November 12 in the Beijing Chaoyang District Government website jointly announced the news: after the expert consultation, two patients in the Xilin Gol League were diagnosed as pneumonic plague cases. At present, the patients have been properly treated in the relevant medical institutions in Chaoyang District, Beijing, and relevant prevention and control measures have been implemented.
After the outbreak, the health and health departments at all levels of Xilin Gol League and the disease control and medical institutions quickly entered the actual state of combat and went all out to carry out relevant emergency work. On the 13th, the reporter learned from the plague emergency headquarters of Xilin Gol League that the local government has urgently launched the "Xilin Gol League plague control emergency plan", established a three-level emergency response mechanism, formulated a plague prevention and control work program, and further strengthened overall coordination, emergency dispatch and Comprehensive protection. Set up an emergency treatment expert consultation group, continue to carry out epidemiological investigations, track and manage close contacts, organize training for infectious disease prevention and treatment of medical personnel and popularization of epidemic infectious diseases.
(Continue . . .)
It is impossible to evaluate the veracity of the online rumors and dissident news reports claiming that China is dealing with a wider outbreak from this vantage point.
About all we can say is that China has a history of hiding disease outbreaks (SARS, African Swine Fever, etc.) when it suits them, and of late, we've heard very little about outbreaks of any kind from the mainland.
Fortunately plague - while it remains a genuine public health concern, particularly in Asia and Africa - is far easier to contain, and cure, than it once was.
At least, as long as it remains susceptible to our armamentarium of antibiotics.But there are growing concerns that Y. pestis, like so many other bacteria, could acquire sufficient multi-drug resistance to loom large once more as a pandemic threat (see PLoS Multiple Antimicrobial Resistance in Plague: An Emerging Public Health Risk).
So we watch reports, such as the ones coming out of China this week, with considerable interest.
