A city in China's Inner Mongolia has confirmed one case of the bubonic plague. This disease was responsible for the Black Death pandemic that happened in the mid-1300s and wiped out around 50 million people in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The Bubonic Plague is Back
Based on the Xinhua news agency report, the case was discovered in Bayannur, a city located northwest of Beijing, last Saturday, July 4, when a hospital alerted the municipal authorities.
As per CNN, authorities in China are already on high alert and have issued a citywide Level 3 warning for plague prevention, which is the second-lowest in a four-tier system.
The warning will forbid the citizens from eating and hunting any animals that could carry the plague and mandates them to report any suspected cases of the plague.
This will stay effective until the end of the year.
Additionally, the Bayannur health officials are encouraging the people to take extra precautions to minimize any risk of human-to-human transmission, especially in the middle of an ongoing fight against COVID-19.
"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 authorities said, according to a local newspaper, China Daily.
Another Suspected Case
The patient, who was not named for confidentiality, is a herdsman and is now in stable condition after being brought to the hospital.
Nevertheless, the BBC reported a second suspected case of the bubonic plague currently being investigated by the authorities involving a 15-year-old patient who was in contact with a marmot that a dog had hunted down.
Meanwhile, authorities are still unable to confirm how the first victim was infected.
For those who are unaware, the bubonic plague is an extremely old disease that has been around since the 1300s where it first attacked cities upon cities in Africa, Asia, and Europe and ultimately wiped out millions of people around the world.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the plague comes from a certain bacteria known as Yersinia pestis, which often affects animals like rodents.
The bubonic plague is the first form of the plague, wherein patients develop fever, chills, headaches, weakness, swollen, tender, and painful lymph nodes.
Human transmission is possible, especially when the patient develops a pneumonic plague.
Fleas are also the most common bridge between animal to human transmission.
Deadly But Treatable
It's one of the terrifying diseases in the past, but fortunately, it is now treatable through antibiotics.
Still, it is a deadly disease with a fatality rate of 30% to 60% when left untreated, but would it lead to another pandemic?
Fortunately, health experts now have more understanding of this disease, such as how it is transmitted and how to treat it effectively, so it's unlikely to become a worldwide health crisis, unlike the novel coronavirus, which is still relatively new.
"We know how to prevent it. We are also able to treat patients who are infected with effective antibiotics," said Dr. Shanti Kapaggoda, an infectious disease doctor from Stanford Health Care.
