Travellers Warned Of Plague In China

[george]

Travellers warned of plague in China

The Public Health Ministry warns people who will visit China during this period to be careful of the pneumonic plague outbreak.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said on Monday the patients can die within 24 hours after being infected with the disease.

Two people had died of pneumonic plague in northwestern province of Qinghai, China.

The outbreak had not yet been found in Thailand, Dr Witthaya said.

The minister said he had assigned health permanent secretary Prat Boonyawongvirote to closely monitor the situation and check the level of severity and the plague-hit areas in China.

Safety measures will be prepared for people travelling to China during this period, he said.

He warned travellers to look after their health and hygiene to protect themselves from being infected with pneumonic plague, A(H1N1) flu and other communicable diseases.

-- Bangkok Post 2009-08-03

China town sealed after plague kills two

BEIJING, CHINA: -- Two people have died of pneumonic plague in a remote part of western China, state media said on Monday, and the town where the outbreak has centred has been closed off to prevent the infection spreading.

Another 10 people have contracted the disease in the ethnically Tibetan region of the sparsly populated province of Qinghai, Xinhua said.

The town of Ziketan and the surrounding region has been closed off, the Health Ministry added in a statement. Ziketan has a population of some 10,000.

China experiences periodic outbreaks of plague, which is typically spread by rodents and fleas.

Pneumonic plague is airborne and can spread easily between people.

-- Reuters 2009-08-03

[george]

Thais urged to keep watch on pneumonic outbreak in China

BANGKOK: -- Thais should be more vigilant on the outbreak of pneumonic plague in China, Thai Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said Monday.

However Thailand has not issued a travel warning to China, he said, adding the public are advised to be careful of their health.

The minister said he had ordered the ministry's permanent secretary to determine whether the disease was airborne, spread from human to human, or through the respiratory system.

He was speaking following pneumonic plague broke out in China's Qinghai recently, claiming two fatalities.

According to the minister, pneumonic plague as a pandemic was last found in Thailand in 1952.

China quarantined Ziketan town of 10,000 people in its northwest Tibetan area following two deaths caused by pneumonic plague.

Chinese health authorities warned travellers to the region in mid-July with cough or fever to immediately seek medical attention.

Meanwhile state-run Xinhua news agency reported that a second person has died of pneumonic plague in north-west China after authorities placed a town under quarantine.

A man identified only as Danzin, 37, from Ziketan town in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture died Sunday morning from the infectious disease.

Danzin was the neighbour of a 32-year-old herder who died earlier in the outbreak, which has sickened another 10 people, mostly relatives of the herder, the agency said.

Local authorities have closed off Ziketan town, which has a population of 10,000, and are searching for those who have had close contact with the infected.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pneumonic plague is an air-born disease that can be spread from person to person through coughing.

Plague is endemic in many countries in Africa, the former Soviet Union, the Americas and Asia, with 1,000 to 2,000 cases reported each year, according to WHO.

Chinese authorities have urged those who have travelled to Ziketan since July 16 and developed a fever or coughing to go to local disease control centres.

-- The Nation 2009-08-03

[sunholidaysun1]

Maybe there isnt any Swine Flu , maybe its the PLAGUE that is out there and governments dont want the masses panicing.

We are ALL DOOMED.

End of the Human race possibly ?

[geriatrickid]

I don't get it. This is not unusual for China. It does have a billion people. Is this intended as a "Look see, it's worse elsewhere" type of PR announcement? India and China have millions of people with intestinal parasites. Does this mean Thailand will discourage Indian tourists lest the eggs and worms end up in the water table of Thailand? There are millions of Chinese hepatitis carriers. Will there be an announcement on that too?

[LaoPo]

I don't get it. This is not unusual for China. It does have a billion people. Is this intended as a "Look see, it's worse elsewhere" type of PR announcement? India and China have millions of people with intestinal parasites. Does this mean Thailand will discourage Indian tourists lest the eggs and worms end up in the water table of Thailand? There are millions of Chinese hepatitis carriers. Will there be an announcement on that too?

I agree; it's a silly warning by the Health Minister.

Ziketan, Qinghai is an extremely remote small village and also completely sealed off by the government. It is rural rural and more rural very poor and harsh countryside and I doubt if any Thai will ever visit that area.

Probably a warning to inform the Thai population that there are also problems outside Thailand's borders

LaoPo

[Bisto]

I reported this earlier in another thread.

sad what we have to face,

funny that my mind is thinking is this some sort of exp*****with the Chinese government to see how effective this really is.and where out in the middle of nowhere.

they have been so effective in combating any outbreak of swine flu to the point of hysteria.

[Netfan]

It's a bit of payback for China warning its citizens about swine flu in Thailand, which was Thailand's own fault for those numbskulls squawking about closing the borders

[sbk]

Threat in Thailand covered here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thailand-Ale...85#entry2919885

[moe666]

I guess we should warn travellers about New Mexico typically 3 or 4 cases a year of plague. The 24 hours time is a bit off about a week incubation time give or take a day.

A few years ago we had a couple from New Mexico take a trip to New York City while there both became ill the Drs, at the hospital didn't recognize the symptoms and didn't treat properly. They both survived but I believe the husband lost both legs to the infection.

[LaoPo]

Dog (after eating a plague-infected marmot; LP) suspected source of China plague: state media

(AFP)

BEIJING — A dog is suspected to be the origin of an outbreak of pneumonic plague in northwest China that has killed three people and left 10,000 under strict quarantine, state media reported.

Ziketan, a remote town in a Tibetan area of Qinghai province, has been locked down since Saturday in an effort to contain the spread of the highly virulent disease.

One patient was in critical condition and seven others were infected, most of them relatives of the first fatality, a 32-year-old herdsman, or local doctors, Xinhua news agency said.

Initial tests had shown that the herdsman's dead dog was the likely origin of the outbreak, Xinhua reported late Wednesday, quoting professor Wang Hu, director of the Qinghai disease control bureau.

Wang said it was likely that the dog died after eating a plague-infected marmot and that the man became infected while burying the dead dog. He died three days later.

"The first victim buried the dead dog without any protection. After he became infected, his relatives and neighbours were in close contact with him without taking any protective measures, leading to their infection," Wang was quoted as saying.

The World Health Organization says the bacteria which causes the plague is endemic in some rodents in the region, such as marmots.

Chinese health ministry experts quoted by Xinhua said the strict quarantine measures were proving effective and the outbreak was unlikely to spread further.

"There is no need to worry about the infection if you travel to Qinghai, not to speak of panic," professor Liang Wannian, deputy director of the ministry's emergency office, was quoted as saying.

The remote and mountainous area is sparsely populated, which is also helping to contain the outbreak.

Residents of Ziketan contacted by AFP Wednesday said some people had tried to flee but it was unclear if any had managed to breach the quarantine zone, which covers an area of 3,500 square kilometres (1,400 square miles) centred on the town.

Pneumonic plague spreads through the air, making it easier to contract than bubonic plague, which requires that a person is bitten by an infected flea.

The WHO says pneumonic plague is the most virulent but least common form of plague. The mortality rate is high and patients can die 24 hours after infection.

Source: AFP

LaoPo