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Case Of Bubonic Plague Prompts Epidemic Warnings In Chinese City

A case of the bubonic plague has urged authorities in the northern Chinese area of Inner Mongolia to warn residents of a potential epidemic.

According to Daily Mail, a herdsmen living in the area recently contracted the deadly disease, known as the “Black Death” in the Middle Ages. The plague was one of the most fatal diseases in history and was responsible for killing roughly 100 million people in the 14th-century.

Considering China is still recovering from its devastating battle with COVID-19 (coronavirus), the fear of another virus outbreak has sparked major concerns throughout the country. However, experts are claiming that the bubonic plague — which infects wild rodents and spreads by infected fleas — will not reach the pandemic level of COVID-19.

Nevertheless, the government responded on Sunday (July 5) with a citywide level three warning — issued when a city detects 1-20 cases of an infectious disease — for epidemic control, the second-lowest in a four-level system, Daily Mail reports. Additionally, the alert will prohibit the hunting and eating of animals that could carry the disease and also advises citizens to avoid camping and coming in close contact with wild animals.

This is the first case of a bubonic plague diagnosis since four cases of previous plagues were reported in November 2019 — two of which were of the deadly pneumonic plague.

China has seemingly controlled a large portion of the COVID-19 outbreak. As of Monday (July 6), of the 83,557 cases of coronavirus in the country, 78,518 have recovered.

Photo: Getty Images