China: Leaked vaccine company infects thousands of bacteria

Brucellosis.

From the source

Several thousand people in northwest China have contracted a bacterial disease caused by a leak of biological materials at a pharmaceutical company, Chinese authorities announced Tuesday.

The Health Committee of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, confirmed that 3,245 people have contracted brucellosis, which is often transmitted by people’s contact with livestock infected with brucellosis.

The city health commission said another 1,401 people had initially tested positive, although no deaths were reported.

In total, the authorities examined 21,847 people out of a population of 2.9 million in the city.

The disease, also known as Malta fever or Mediterranean fever, can cause symptoms including headache, muscle aches, fever and fatigue.

Although these symptoms may subside, some of them can become chronic or never disappear, such as arthritis or swelling in certain organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, which also confirmed that the transmission of infection from one person to another Extremely rare.

Instead, most people become infected by eating food contaminated with this bacterium or by inhaling the bacteria themselves - this appears to be the case in Lanzhou.

The bacterial leak occurred at the biopharmaceutical plant between late July and late August of last year, according to the city health commission.

While producing brucella vaccines for animal use, the factory used expired disinfectants, which means that not all bacteria in the waste gas have been eliminated.

The polluted waste gas formed a droplet containing bacteria, which leaked into the air, and was carried by the wind to the Lanzhou Institute of Veterinary Research, where the outbreak first appeared.

People at the institute began reporting injuries in November, and infections quickly picked up.

By the end of December, at least 181 people at the institute had contracted brucellosis, according to the state-owned Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Other infected patients included students and faculty members of Lanzhou University.

Xinhua reported at the time that the bacteria had spread in Heilongjiang Province, in the far northeastern tip of the country, with 13 positive cases recorded in the Veterinary Institute in August.

In the months following the outbreak, provincial and municipal officials have launched an investigation into the leak, according to the Lanzhou Health Commission.

By January, the authorities had revoked licenses to produce the vaccine granted to the factory.

In February, the factory issued a public apology, saying it had "severely punished" eight people who were responsible for the accident.

He added that he will cooperate with local authorities in response efforts and clean-up, and will contribute to the compensation program for those affected.

The Lanzhou Health Commission also announced in its Tuesday report that 11 general hospitals will provide free and regular check-ups for infected patients.

The report did not provide further details about patient compensation, except that it will be launched in installments starting in October.

Brucellosis was more common in China in the 1980s, although it has decreased since then with the advent of vaccines and improved disease prevention and control.

However, there have been very few brucellosis outbreaks worldwide in the past few decades.

The disease in Bosnia infected nearly 1,000 people in 2008, prompting the culling of sheep and other infected livestock.

In the United States, brucellosis has cost the federal government and the livestock industry billions of dollars.

And about 60% of the female bison (American wild cow) in Yellowstone National Park carry the bacteria, according to the National Park authorities.

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