Suspected Bubonic Plague Case in China: What You Need to Know

Chinese officials in a city falling in the Inner Mongolia region have sounded an alert after a suspected case of the bubonic plague.

A third-level alert, the second-lowest in a four-level system was issued by the health committee of Bayan Nur.

Also, the committee asked the public to come forward and report any suspected cases of plague or fever with unclear reasons.

The alert was made a day after a hospital in the Inner Mongolian city revealed a case of suspected bubonic plague on Saturday.

The bubonic plague is caused by a bacterial infection and can be deadly if not treated. But treatments are available through antibiotics. While it's not cleat how the patient may have gotten infected, the level 3 alert forbids hunting and consuming animals, as it may spread the fatal disease.

Bubonic Plague Treatment

The bubonic plague was earlier known as the "Black Death" in the Middle Ages. It is an extremely contagious and often lethal disease that is spread through rodents.

There have been rare outbreaks of the plague, including in Madagascar in 2017, when over 300 people were infected. In May 2019, two people died of plague in innner Mongolia after eating a Marmot, a type of rodent.

Hunting of the rodent remains illegal in Mongolia, even as it sold as a remedy for good health.

It accompanies four detailed cases of plague among residents in the region of Inner Mongolia during November 2019, including two of pneumonic plague, and a deadlier variant of plague.

Bubonic Plague Unlikely to Become an Epidemic

Symptoms of bubonic plague are flu-like. These include fever, headache, chills, and weakness, accompanied by swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes called buboes, according to the UC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is caused by flea bites that get infected by feeding on rodents.

It's important to remember that bubonic plague, that evoked great fear and death in the 14th century, leading to over 50 million deaths, is unlikely to become an epidemic now.

It is treatable with common antibiotics and there is greater understanding of the disease among infectious disease experts.

There were outbreaks of the plague in the 17th century England and then in China and India in the 19th century, which killed more than 12 million people.