Authorities in a city in China’s Inner Mongolia region issued a warning after a patient suffering from bubonic plague died of multiple organ failure, state media reported on Saturday.
Plague cases are not uncommon in China, although outbreaks have become increasingly rare. From 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths.
The patient was confirmed to have bubonic plague, the People’s Daily reported, citing an announcement from the Bayan Nur city health committee. Bubonic plague, known as the “black plague” in the Middle Ages, is a highly infectious and often deadly disease that is transmitted primarily by rodents.
The committee issued a third-tier alert, the second-lowest in a four-tier system, in effect from Friday through the end of 2020 to prevent the spread of the disease, the People’s Daily reported.
This marks the second death of a plague patient reported this month in the Inner Mongolia region.
Residential buildings in Baotou city, Inner Mongolia.
Simon Song | South China Morning Post | fake images
On Thursday, authorities in the city of Baotou, adjacent to the city of Bayan Nur, reported that a patient with an “intestinal-type plague” died of a circulatory system failure.
Authorities in Bayan Nur closed the area where the dead patient lived and quarantined seven close contacts of the patient, who so far tested negative for the disease and took preventive medications.
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