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More than 3,000 people in China fell ill with brucellosis after a bacterium escaped from a laboratory last year, health officials said, according to CNN.
The epidemic started at a pharmaceutical factory in Zhongmu Lanzhou, which produced brucellosis vaccines for animal use. So far, 3,245 people have been ill, according to the local health commission, according to CNN.
Authorities tested a total of 21,847 people in Gansu province, which has a population of 2.9 million, and another 1,401 tested positive.
No deaths have been reported from this epidemic.
People can get brucellosis, also known as Maltese fever, from coming into contact with animals such as sheep, goats, cows or camels that are infected with the Brucella bacteria, according to experts.
Symptoms include fever, excessive sweating, headache, general fatigue, and pain in the muscles and joints.
The most common way to get infected is by eating or consuming raw or unpasteurized dairy products, but people can get sick and inhale the bacteria.
The bacteria was removed from the Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer’s lab last summer, between the end of July and the end of August, because the factory used expired disinfectants and disinfectants and not all bacteria in the waste gases died, reports CNN.
These contaminated waste gases formed aerosols that carried the bacteria to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, where the epidemic broke out. The first cases of the disease appeared in November, then the infection rate accelerated. As of December, there were already 181 employees of the institute infected with brucellosis.
Other infections have occurred among students and staff at Lanzhou University, and the outbreak has spread to Heilongjiang province in the northeast part of the country.
The Chinese authorities launched an investigation and lifted the plant’s operating licenses and approvals for the production of two brucellosis vaccines.
In February, the factory management said it had “severely punished” eight people who were held responsible for the situation.
