Russia's "Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East" reported that Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old female laboratory researcher, was infected with pneumonic plague and later died of unknown pneumonia. Russia emphasized that Shipilova had not tested positive for relevant pathogens and denied that there were any cases of pneumonic plague. However, China's Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other units suddenly publicized plague prevention and control to the public on the 9th.
According to Hunan Daily, disease control experts from Hunan Province pointed out that plague is a Class A infectious disease (tied with cholera) stipulated in the China Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and is caused by Yersinia pestis. However, people do not need to talk about rat discoloration because plague is preventable, treatable and controllable.
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Hunan disease control experts said that in recent years, there have been some cases in places such as Madagascar in Africa, Peru in South America, and Mongolia in Asia, but they have all been controlled through timely isolation and treatment and have not caused large-scale epidemics. China has also established a relatively complete plague surveillance and emergency treatment system. Plague cases have remained at a low level for many years, and the public does not need to panic excessively.
Hunan disease control experts revealed that the plague has obvious seasonality, which is mainly related to the activities of rats, the reproduction of rat fleas, and the time when marmots (commonly known as marmots) end hibernation. Cases mostly occur in spring and summer in southern China, and in summer and autumn in marmot foci such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Disease control experts pointed out that when winter comes and the temperature drops, marmots enter hibernation, and the activity of rats and rat fleas also decreases significantly, indicating that the plague as a whole has entered a period of low incidence. However, we need to be vigilant. In history, there have been cases of people becoming infected after digging marmot burrows and hunting hibernating marmots in winter. Therefore, the awareness of protection in epidemic areas cannot be relaxed.
Disease control experts said that the main source of plague is rats, marmots and other rodents, and there are three ways of transmission. The first is flea bites, which is the most important way of infection in human cases; the second is direct contact, such as hunting and slaughtering. If you skin an infected animal or come into contact with its excrement or secretions, the germs will invade through tiny wounds on the skin or mucous membranes; finally, pneumonic plague is spread through respiratory droplets. Patients cough and talk and spray out bacterial droplets, which can cause human-to-human transmission at close range.
Disease control experts point out that bubonic plague is the most common clinically, accounting for about 85% to 90% of infected patients. Typical symptoms are sudden high fever, rapid swelling of lymph nodes in the groin, armpits, neck and other parts of the body, and severe pain. If the bacteria invades the lungs, it is pneumonic plague, which can cause cough, sputum, hemoptysis, difficulty breathing, etc.
Once a suspected case occurs, China's disease control department will quickly initiate measures in accordance with the "National Emergency Plan for Plague Control" and "Standards and Principles for Treatment of Plague-Infected Areas". First, the patient will be isolated and treated on the spot. Patients with pneumonic plague must undergo strict respiratory isolation and wear masks. Then, they will immediately conduct an epidemiological investigation to trace the source of infection, determine and track close contacts.
China's disease control department will also implement preventive medication for close contacts and monitor body temperatures daily. As for the quarantine area, fleas and rodents will be eliminated, and patient residences and contaminated places will be disinfected. The laboratory will also test patient samples as soon as possible to achieve the goals of "early detection, early diagnosis, early notification, early isolation, and early treatment."
Disease control experts say that the 24 hours after the onset of plague is the golden period for treatment. Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, and duxtetracycline can have exact effects. The vast majority of patients can be cured. However, if the disease is delayed to the serious stage, the mortality rate will increase significantly.
In this regard. Disease control experts call on Chinese people who develop symptoms such as fever, swollen and painful lymph nodes, coughing up blood, and difficulty breathing after outdoor activities to go to the hospital immediately and proactively inform doctors of their travel history to affected areas and contact with animals, and not to self-medicate or delay.
In addition to the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention also promoted plague prevention and control to the public on the 9th, which made Chinese netizens feel quite unsophisticated. Many people are even worried about the resurgence of epidemics similar to Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19).
