
A herdsman in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia was diagnosed with the bubonic plague Sunday, The New York Times reported.
The Bayannur city health commission confirmed the diagnosis and issued a third-level alert, the second from the bottom in a four-level system. Mongolian health authorities are also investigating a second suspected case involving a 15 year old who developed a fever after coming into contact with a marmot that had been hunted by a dog, China's Global Times tweeted.
#Mongolia discovered another suspected patient infected with the bubonic plague. The 15-year-old patient had a feve… https://t.co/AHQBW0KH1X— Global Times (@Global Times)1594018342.0
"At present, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in this city. The public should improve its self-protection awareness and ability, and report abnormal health conditions promptly," the local health authority said, according to China Daily.
The bubonic plague caused the Black Death that killed around 50 million people in Africa, Asia and Europe during the 14th century, according to BBC News. But public health experts say it is unlikely to give the new coronavirus a run for its money as a global pandemic.
"Unlike in the 14th Century, we now have an understanding of how this disease is transmitted," Stanford Health Care infectious disease physician Dr. Shanti Kappagoda told Heathline, according to BBC News. "We know how to prevent it. We are also able to treat patients who are infected with effective antibiotics."
Bubonic plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium which is spread from infected rodents to humans by fleas, according to The New York Times. In Inner Mongolia, the rodents in question are usually marmots, and the health alert put in place by Bayannur health officials warns against eating, hunting or transporting potentially infected animals and urges people to report diseased or dead rodents. The alert will remain in place till the end of the year, according to BBC News.
The plague can come in different forms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. The latter is consistently fatal if left untreated and can be spread person to person via respiratory droplets, according to The New York Times. The bubonic plague is fatal 30 to 60 percent of the time if not treated. Antibiotics can cure it if administered early.
Symptoms of bubonic plague include swollen lymph nodes, fever, chills and coughing, according to CNN. Pneumonic plague infects the lungs.
The plague in both its forms is an example of how the exploitation of nature and the consumption of wild animals can put humans at risk from deadly pathogens. A 1911 pneumonic plague epidemic in northeast China, which killed around 63,000 people, is believed to have been spread by the trade in marmot fur. Last week, two brothers in Mongolia caught bubonic plague from marmot meat, and a couple in Mongolia died of the plague after eating marmot kidney last May.
Worldwide, the plague infects 1,000 to 2,000 people a year, according to World Health Organization data reported by CNN, though that is likely an underestimate.
An average of seven cases are reported every year in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that there are two forms of plague. There are actually different forms and three common ones, and the article has been updated to reflect this. The source of this information has also been modified.
- Plagues Follow Bad Leadership in Ancient Greek Tales - EcoWatch ›
- Black Death Is Back! Two Cases of Plague Confirmed in China ... ›
- Bubonic Plague Found in Colorado Squirrel - EcoWatch ›
By Daniel Raichel
Industry would have us believe that pesticides help sustain food production — a necessary chemical trade-off for keeping harmful bugs at bay and ensuring we have enough to eat. But the data often tell a different story—particularly in the case of neonicotinoid pesticides, also known as neonics.
- Bees Face 'a Perfect Storm' — Parasites, Air Pollution and Other ... ›
- European Top Court Upholds French Ban on Bee-Harming Pesticides ›
- UK Allows Emergency Use of Bee-Killing Pesticide - EcoWatch ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Andrea Germanos
Fed up with "empty promises" from world leaders, a dozen youth activists on Wednesday demanded newly sworn-in President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take swift and bold climate action — even more far-reaching than promised on the campaign trail — stating that their "present and future depend on the actions your government takes within the next four years."
- Stories From the Youth Climate Movement in the Global South ... ›
- Young Climate Leaders Conclude Mock COP26 With Calls for ... ›
- Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Endorses Biden in Tweet - EcoWatch ›
Trending
When wind turbine blades reach the end of their usefulness, most are sawed into transportable pieces and hauled to landfills, where they never break down. Because of the resources and energy that go into producing these blades, this type of disposal is inefficient and wasteful. Recently, several innovative companies have begun brainstorming better ways to repurpose this green technology after it goes offline.
- World's Largest Solar Project and Floating Wind Turbine Signal ... ›
- Wind Power Costs Could See Another 50% Reduction by 2030 ... ›
New fossils uncovered in Argentina may belong to one of the largest animals to have walked on Earth.
- Groundbreaking Fossil Shows Prehistoric 15-Foot Reptile Tried to ... ›
- Skull of Smallest Known Dinosaur Found in 99-Million-Year Old Amber ›
- Giant 'Toothed' Birds Flew Over Antarctica 40 Million Years Ago ... ›
- World's Second-Largest Egg Found in Antarctica Probably Hatched ... ›
A federal court on Tuesday struck down the Trump administration's rollback of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
- Pruitt Guts the Clean Power Plan: How Weak Will the New EPA ... ›
- It's Official: Trump Administration to Repeal Clean Power Plan ... ›
- 'Deadly' Clean Power Plan Replacement ›