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More than 3,000 people contracted brucellosis, an animal-borne disease in northwest China, after the bacteria in 2019 escaped from a biopharmaceutical laboratory that produces vaccines for animals, authorities said today.
Brucellosis is a disease transmitted by livestock or animal products. It is generally not contagious between humans, but it can cause fever, headache, or joint pain.
A total of 3,245 people tested positive for the bacteria, after tests conducted since the incident, according to health officials in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province.
Authorities said no cases of person-to-person transmission were detected.
A public laboratory in the city used an outdated disinfectant in the summer of 2019 to produce brucellosis vaccines for animals, authorities explained..
Therefore, sterilization was incomplete and bacteria were still present in the gas emissions of the company – the Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Unit for animal husbandry.
The contaminated gas spread through the air to the Veterinary Research Institute, where it infected nearly 200 people last December.
The Lanzhou Health Department said on Friday that the bacteria usually come from sheep, cows or pigs.
The authorization to produce brucellosis vaccines was withdrawn from the laboratory and patients will receive financial compensation from October, according to authorities in Lanzhou.
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