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More than 10,500 people contracted brucellosis, an animal disease in northwest China, after the bacteria escaped from a biopharmaceutical laboratory that produces vaccines for animals, authorities said Friday.
Lanzhou City, capital of Gansu province in the northwest of the country, evaluated a total of 79,357 residents. To date, 1,604 people have been treated for the disease, local officials said, cited by the official Global Times newspaper.
Brucellosis is a disease transmitted by livestock or animal products. It is generally not contagious between humans, but can cause fever, headache, or joint pain.
A public laboratory in the city used an outdated disinfectant in the summer of 2019 to produce brucellosis vaccines for animals, authorities explained.
Therefore, the sterilization was incomplete and the 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 in December 2019.
The bacteria are usually from sheep, cows, or pigs.
The authorization for the production of vaccines against brucellosis has been withdrawn from the laboratory. The patients will receive financial compensation, according to the Lanzhou authorities.
