Blue Star Chronicles

China seals off a town in the Northwest China Qinghai Province after an outbreak of pneumonic plague. Read about it below and see a map and video.

China Seals Off Town

The remote Chinese farming area of Ziketan has been quarantined by the Chinese government in an attempt to isolate an outbreak of the pneumonic plague there. The town of about 10,000 in the remote and sparsely populated Province of Qinghai, is populated primarily by Tibetan herders. Over a four day period three people have died and nine more are hospitalized with the plague.

The pneumonic plague is one of the world’s most deadly infection diseases. It can kill a person within 24 hours once someone is infected. It’s symptoms are closely related to the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death. The main difference being that pneumonic plague spreads through the air, making it easier to transfer from person to person than the bubonic plague that is transfer through bites from infected fleas. It is also more deadly in that the fatality rate is 100% if it goes untreated. The bubonic plague has a fatality rate of 60 percent if untreated. Needless to say, there is reason for concern.

A week ago, on Thursday, August 30, 2009, the Chinese government set up checkpoints around the area and sealed off the town. They are now in the process of disinfecting the entire area, killing disease carriers such as rats, mice and fleas.

The three men who have died in the area are a 32-year-old herdsman, his 37-year-old neighbor followed by a 64-year-old man who died this past Monday. Its being reported that most of the infected who are being treated are relatives of the 32-year-old man who was the first to die of the disease.

The Chinese government is asking people who have visited the area, Ziketan, on or around July 16 to seek medical attention to ensure they haven’t been infected with the disease.

Since China has sealed off the town in Northwest China, the Ministry of Health is reporting that this outbreak of pneumonic plague is effectively under control.