WHO Claims Bubonic Plague in China Is Not a Risk

An official from the World Health Organization earlier said that that a seeming bubonic plague outbreak in China is "well manage" and is not considered to signify a great danger.

Prior to the WHO official's statement, local officials in the city of Bayannur in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia already, on Sunday, came out with a warning, one day, following a report from a hospital, of a suspected bubonic plague case.

The said case was reportedly a succeeding report to four other incidents of plague in people in November last year, which included two of the deadlier variant, also known as "pneumonic plague."

In a United Nations Press Briefing held in Geneva yesterday, Margaret Harris, WHO spokeswoman said, they are currently monitoring the plague in China. 

Specifically, she added, the health body is presently looking at the number of cases in China, and it is well managed.

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Bubonic Plague's Centuries of Existence 

Harris also said, bubonic plague has existed and has always had, for hundreds of years already. The WHO official added that at present, they are not considering the incident "high-risk."

Also known as the "Black Death in the Middle Ages," bubonic plague is described by health experts as extremely contagious and frequently a deadly illness which, more often than not, spread by rodents.

In addition, China's National Health Commission said, even though this plague variant is rare in China, and it is treatable, at least five individuals "have died due from since 2014."

According to the UN health agency, China notified it of an incidence of the "Black Death" in Inner Mongolia. "Plague is rare," explained the agency, adding that intermittent incidents of plague have been reported in the country for the last decade.

The Most Common Plague Variant

The health agency also said that bubonic plague is the most common plague variant, and it is passed on between animals and humans via the bite of infected fleas, as well as "direct contact with carcasses of infected small animals."

The agency also emphasized that bubonic plague is not easily transferred between humans. In a statement the city health commission issued, it indicated that the man who got infected in Inner Mongolia "was in stable condition" at a Bayannur hospital.

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Vaccine for the Plague

A vaccine against bubonic plague, according to WHO, is solely available for patients with high "job-related" susceptibility to the outbreak. However, it is not available for commercial use and administration in most nations around the world. 

A couple of years back, specifically in 2016, three vaccines being developed came out in the fight against bubonic plague.

In the said development, scientists examined the said vaccine through modification of some genes of bacteria so as not to result in illness.

Nevertheless, according to research, it would perhaps, trigger an immune response in an animal. Particularly reports indicated the vaccines were formulated for the protection of patients from bacteria that could result in "pneumonic plague," which is the deadliest plague variant, and the only type that spreads infection through "airborne transmission."

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