Bubonic plague caught by a Chinese hunter after consuming a wild rabbit

The Inner Mongolia part of China reported a confirmed, fresh occurrence of bubonic plague, despite a prior declaration that the possibility of a breakout was minimal. As reported by the health commission, a 55-year old man has been diagnosed with bubonic plague on the consumption of a wild rabbit.

According to the World Health Organization, bubonic plague is widely spread and can forge ahead and proliferate to lungs, resulting in a more excruciating type known as the pneumonic plague.

Two victims from Inner Mongolia have been quarantined suffering from the deadly pneumonic plague, as reported by authorities the previous week. Yersinia pestis bacterium is the cause behind pneumonic as well as bubonic plague. A scarcer third variation of this disease is the septicaemic plague, which transmits infection into the bloodstream. The bacterium is assumed to have been originated from southwest China.

The plague has wiped out millions around the globe, with about one-third of Europe’s population decimated in the 1300s by a major pandemic, popularly named as the Black Death. Almost 3,248 cases have been registered worldwide in a short span of just five years which leads to approximately 584 deaths, as reported by the World Health Organization. Between 2009 to 2018, 11 deaths and 26 cases have been reported by China. 12,082 cases regarding rabies were also registered, with approximately 96 percent fatality rate. The third worldwide plague outbreak was caused in 1894 in the opium trade passage from Yunnan.

Unstable climatic conditions were one of the major causes behind the spread of bubonic plague in the late 1300s. Rodent population has been drastically increased as a result of acute climate change, according to China.

Concern regarding the outbreak hangs in the air with the integration of previously remote plague-prone regions into the economy of China. Qinghai-Tibet plateau and Yunnan are explicitly vulnerable, as reported by the Center for Disease Control. With the advancement in infrastructure, tourism, and urbanization, the threat of plague being spread to highly populated areas has been increased, according to Qinghai officials.

No unusual symptoms have been found in the 28 individuals quarantined who had a close association with the sufferer, according to health authorities. In the case of early detection, the plague can be cured with the help of effective antibiotics.

After the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003, infectious diseases have become a thoughtful issue for Beijing as well.