WHO says plague outbreak not high risk
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| File photo of council workers spraying disinfectant (AFP) |
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that an
apparent outbreak of bubonic plague in China is being "well managed"
and is not considered to represent a high risk. The statement comes after
Russia announced it had stepped up patrols to stop people hunting wild animals
near its border with China and Mongolia.
By Vatican News
Authorities in Bayan Nur, a city in the Chinese region of
Inner Mongolia, issued a warning on Sunday after a hospital reported a
suspected case of the bubonic plague. It followed four reported human cases of
plague there last November.
They ordered residents not to hunt wild animals such as
marmots and to send anyone for treatment who shows signs of a fever or other
possible signs of infection.
China has largely eradicated the plague. The last major
known outbreak was in 2009 when several people died in the town of Ziketan in
Qinghai province on the Tibetan Plateau.
Addressing the situation on Tuesday, WHO spokeswoman
Margaret Harris told a U.N. press briefing in Geneva the organization was
“monitoring the outbreaks in China”, and watching it closely “and in
partnership with the Chinese authorities and Mongolian authorities,"
She also said that at the moment, they were not considering
it “high-risk”.
Neighbouring Mongolia also reported two cases of bubonic
plague in its western Khovd province last week.
In light of this, the Tass news agency reported that
authorities in Russia's Altai region, which borders Kazakhstan, China and
Mongolia, had officials patrolling the area to enforce a ban on hunting marmots
and to warn people about the dangers.
The bubonic plague, which was also known as the “Black
Death” in the Middle Ages, wrought havoc on Asia, Europe and
Africa in the 14th century and killed an estimated 50 million people.
Today, it can be cured with several types of antibiotics,
but it can also be fatal in up to 90 % of people if they don’t get the required
treatment.
Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, headache,
coughing and swollen lymph glands.
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