Menghai in Yunnan activated a high alert emergency response after a case of bubonic plague hit the county.

Emergency response declared as health experts launch field probe

YUNNAN: Menghai county in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, activated a Level 4 public health emergency response after a case of bubonic plague was reported, Xinhua News Agency reported.

A three-year-old child in a remote village in Xiding town was confirmed to have glandular-type plague on Friday, said a statement by local health authorities.

The statement said the patient had mild symptoms and was in stable condition after treatment.

Three dead rats were found in the village, but what killed them was unknown.

The Yunnan Provincial Institute of Endemic Disease Control and Prevention and the prefecture’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention launched a field probe and conducted laboratory tests.

In a preliminary assessment, health authorities said bubonic plague had emerged in Xiding on Sept 21.

National and provincial experts arrived in Menghai as part of the emergency response.

Teams of experts have made inspections, imposed quarantines and screened patients with fevers. People with suspected cases are being observed and epidemiological work is going forward.

Meanwhile, a health campaign to eradicate fleas and rats has begun. Xiding health authorities urged the public to report any dead rats and seek medical advice immediately in case of fever.

Song Zhizhong, director of the provincial disease control and prevention centre, said there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the glandular-type bubonic plague.

He added that no new suspected cases were found in the area.