China News Service, Beijing, July 21 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue) On July 19, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Response to Plague Epidemic Work Headquarters issued an announcement that Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region confirmed a case of imported primary plague (bubonic plague) from outside the region.
On the same day, Ningxia has launched a four-level emergency response to the prevention and control of the plague epidemic.
What are the dangers of plague?
How is it contagious?
Need to be vigilant?
Screenshot of Ningxia Health Commission website
11 confirmed cases of plague in the past 4 years
Occurs mainly in Inner Mongolia and Ningxia
According to the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Health Commission, on July 19, a case of plague (bubonic plague) was confirmed in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University.
The patient is male, 45 years old, and occupation is a herdsman.
At about 9:00 on July 12, the patient consciously had fever, fatigue, confusion, watery diarrhea, and returned to Yinchuan from Inner Mongolia.
A confirmed case of plague was confirmed on July 19.
As soon as the news came out, it sparked heated discussions on the Internet.
Some netizens said that it is an epidemic and a plague, which is worrying.
In fact, the plague has not disappeared from the public eye for a long time.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention once published an article explaining that in history, the plague has experienced three worldwide pandemics and was once called the "Black Death", causing serious loss of human life and health.
After the founding of New China, the Chinese government attached great importance to the prevention and control of plague, and the number of cases dropped significantly. By the 1980s, an average of about 20 cases were reported each year. In the 1990s, the plague epidemic in southern my country had a brief rise. There are sporadic case reports, mainly in some provinces in northwestern my country.
In the past four years, there have been sporadic cases of plague every year in my country, mainly in Inner Mongolia and Ningxia.
In 2019, 5 cases of plague were reported nationwide and 1 person died.
Among them, there are 4 confirmed cases of plague publicly reported in Inner Mongolia.
In 2020, 4 cases of plague and 3 deaths were reported nationwide (1 case was reported in 2019).
Among them, 2 plague deaths occurred in Inner Mongolia.
In 2021, 1 case of plague was reported nationwide.
The patient was admitted to the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, and lived in Chabu Commune, Wulan Town, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and engaged in grazing work all the year round.
With this one case this year, the number of reported cases of plague in the past four years has reached 11.
Data map: Erenhot City launched a spring protective rodent eradication activity.
Photo courtesy of Erlianhot Health Commission
How did past cases develop plague?
Three ways of transmission to be vigilant
It can be noted that in recent years, the northwest region, especially Inner Mongolia, is a frequent plague area.
What is the reason?
This also depends on the characteristics of the plague.
The source of plague infection is mainly infected animals and patients with pneumonic plague. The host animals are commonly rodents and wild carnivores, such as Mongolian marmots, Himalayan marmots, Daur chinchillas, long-clawed gerbils, Brucella voles, etc.
The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region belongs to the historical natural foci of plague. There are four types of foci of Mongolian marmot, Daur chinchilla, long-clawed gerbil, and Bryde's vole, which are distributed in 57 banner counties, with a total area of 337,000 square kilometers.
In 2019, two cases of imported plague in Inner Mongolia were found in Beijing, which caused widespread concern.
At that time, the Inner Mongolia Health and Health Commission reported that the last human plague case was in 2004, 15 years ago.
So how did the plague happen?
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a traceability analysis of plague cases in Inner Mongolia and Ningxia in 2019 and 2021, and found that two patients with primary pneumonic plague from Inner Mongolia came to Beijing for treatment. of aerosol infection, the wife is likely to be infected by contact with her husband.
Another bubonic plague patient became infected after skinning a dead hare.
As for the plague cases in Ningxia in 2021, investigators found that there was a severe plague epidemic with footed fleas in the patient's living area, and the patient may have been infected by flea bites.
Last year, the National Health and Health Commission and the Inner Mongolia Health and Health Commission pointed out that there are three ways of spreading the plague. One is transmission through flea bites.
After fleas bite plague patients or animals infected with plague, and then bite people, people can be infected with the epidemic.
The second is transmission through direct contact.
When people hunt, slaughter, and handle animals infected with plague, the plague bacteria can enter the human body through wounds on people's skin (including very small wounds), causing human infection.
The third is through droplet transmission.
Pneumonic plague patients or animals expel the plague bacteria into the surrounding air through breathing and coughing, resulting in the spread of pneumonic plague.
Among susceptible populations, humans are generally susceptible to plague.
However, personnel engaged in field work or hunters and herdsmen who hunt and flay marmots in the epidemic area are more likely to come into contact with infected animals, and the chance of infection is higher than that of the general population.
It can also be seen from previous cases that many cases are engaged in grazing work.
Video screenshot
How to prevent the plague? Does the treatment work?
For the residents in the foci, how to prevent the plague?
The official reminder is to achieve "three nos and three protections" and improve self-protection awareness and ability.
"Three Nos": Do not touch, feed or carry animals such as rats, hares, foxes, wolves, stray dogs, stray cats, yellow sheep, and marmots; Rest around animal burrows, let alone dig digging animal burrows; do not contact patients with sudden death, suspected plague patients, or confirmed plague patients.
"Three requirements": timely report sick and dead mice, suspected plague patients, unexplained high fever patients and patients with sudden death; keep the dormitory and surrounding environment clean and tidy, keep cats in cages, keep dogs on a leash, and conduct regular flea control; Patients should be treated locally to ensure that patients can receive prompt and timely treatment.
"Three protections": For effective protection, people should wear long trousers, long-sleeved tops, and high boots or anti-flea socks when they are active or working in the wild.
In the process of dealing with epidemic areas and epidemic spots, strengthen the personal protection of epidemic handling staff; carry out health monitoring, and conduct daily health monitoring for personnel engaged in high-risk occupations such as grazing personnel, rodent control personnel, field operators and residents in the epidemic area , Once any abnormal situation occurs, it should be reported in time; care should be taken, and necessary care should be given to the personnel around the epidemic site to prevent people from entering the epidemic site without effective protection.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention once issued a document stating that the plague is an ancient bacterial infectious disease that can be treated with a variety of effective antibiotics clinically.
If the patient can see a doctor early and receive standardized and effective treatment, the cure rate is very high.
Suspected contacts can also be prevented by taking preventive medication.
Feng Zijian, deputy director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also said that although the plague has left a painful memory for mankind in history, with the development of the disease prevention and control system and modern medicine, the plague is no longer incurable, and most of the cases are sporadic. Mass infection of the population is almost impossible.
Therefore, the public no longer have to smell the plague and become discolored.
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