BEIJING (AP) — Parts of a northern Chinese city have been quarantined after state media said a man died of bubonic plague.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that 151 people were under observation in the city of Yumen in Gansu province after authorities determined they had come in contact with a man who died of the plague July 16.
Investigators believe the man contracted the bacterial infection after contact with a marmot, Xinhua said.
The report said all the people under quarantine were in good health, but that 10 checkpoints were still blocking off parts of the city of about 180,000.
Bubonic plague killed millions of people in Europe in the 14th century and tens of thousands in China in the 19th century. It remains endemic in northwest China and is spread largely through flea bites. The bacteria can cause gangrene, seizures and fever.
Holy shite! They’ve had 4 cases of pneumonic fever in Colorado, as well. WTF?
“It remains endemic in northwest China”
Really? I had not heard that before. This bears looking into.
WalMart cancels plans to import frozen marmot fillets.
It’s endemic in the US now, too, especially in the southwest.
Plague enterobacteria Yersinia pestis has been endemic in the southwest for a very long time. Prairie dogs go through periodic die off cycles from the flea bite transmitted disease. Cats pick it up sometimes, and people get it too. The pneumonic form of the disease can be transmitted from person to person and is much more dangerous. Southwestern veterinarians and physicians routinely consider a possible diagnosis of plague in their patients.
Land of the flea, home of the plague.
There’s a plague reservoir among western ground squirrels, believe it or not.