Doctors Say There’s A Possible Bubonic Plague Case In China

Multiple world-wide news sources are reporting that a case of the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, has been discovered in China. The case is being reported from a hospital in Northern China's Inner Mongolia.

In response, public health officials with the Bayannaoer Health Commission have issued a Level 3 Warning to hopefully prevent the spread of the plague. The Level 3 Warning is scheduled to remain in place in the region for the rest of the year.

The Level 3 Warning represents a line of defense for a community, or region, in response to a contagious disease, infection, or virus. The measure states:

"forbids the hunting and eating of animals that could carry plague and asks the public to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes, and to report any sick or dead marmots."

The plague is caused by a bacteria call Yersinia Pestis, which is usually transmitted to humans through flea bites. At one point, the plague is blamed for killing roughly 60% of the population in Europe. But that was before we had antibiotic treatments, which caused the fatality rate to be around 66-93% at that time. With current treatments, the fatality rate is still as high as 16%. But experts say that depends on whether or not treatments are administered in the first 24 hours.

Back in 2019, the same region of China had an outbreak of the Pneumonic Plague, which is actually a deadlier version of the Bubonic Plauge.