As the COVID-19 pandemic rumbles on, the media is discussing news of bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia. Although the headlines appear ominous, the expert opinions below help put the story into perspective.
Living through a pandemic has heightened the public’s interest in infectious diseases. Just 7 short months ago, none of us would have expected society to freeze in response to a highly contagious pathogen.
Recent news of a case of plague in Inner Mongolia has sparked concerns far and wide. To a public embroiled in a pandemic, the word plague may invoke visions of medieval suffering.
Plague is, by all accounts, a serious and unpleasant disease. Although it is most famous for causing The Black Death, the most fatal pandemic in recorded human history, it never truly disappeared.
Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis), the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that there are around 650 cases of plague each year globally.
Most cases of plague occur in Asia and Africa, but rural parts of the Western United States register an average of seven cases each year. Plague can be fatal if left untreated, but modern antibiotics can treat it easily.
The recent news reports an isolated case of plague in Bayan Mur, a city in Inner Mongolia. On Sunday, local health officials issued a third-level alert following news that a herdsman had contracted plague.
This is the lowest level of alert and comes with a ban on hunting or eating certain wild animals that could transmit the disease.
According to the China Daily newspaper, a local health authority official said, “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.”
Prof. Jimmy Whitworth, Professor of International Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, writes:
“Bubonic plague regularly occurs