Public advisory on plague issued in Hulunbuir

Health authorities in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, have urged the public to take precautions against plague while assessing the risk of a local outbreak as low, according to a recent notice published by the official WeChat account of Hulunbuir News.

The Hulunbuir Center for Disease Control and Prevention advised people who have recently traveled to plague-endemic areas in Russia's Far East to monitor their health closely. Anyone who develops suspected symptoms should seek medical attention immediately and inform medical personnel of their travel history, according to the notice published on Saturday.

The CDC said no human plague cases had been reported in the city since 1927, and routine surveillance in recent years had detected no plague outbreaks among rodents. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the local situation, the risk of a plague outbreak remains low.

However, Hulunbuir is a historical natural plague focus area with a long history of plague activity. The city also borders Russia's Far East, where cross-border movement of people is frequent. Continued surveillance and public awareness are therefore necessary to safeguard public health, the CDC said.

Public concern has grown following the death of a 28-year-old female laboratory worker at Russia's Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East on Oct 2. She developed pneumonia of undetermined etiology, and the cause of her illness has not been confirmed. The relevant precautionary measures have since been lifted.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that the lack of a confirmed diagnosis remained a key uncertainty, limiting its ability to conduct a full risk assessment. According to information provided by Russian authorities, testing did not detect plague or other tested high-threat pathogens, and the death had been classified as pneumonia of undetermined etiology, the WHO said.

China has maintained a nationwide plague surveillance and emergency response system, with human cases remaining at a low level in recent years. Health authorities have also emphasized that plague is preventable and treatable, particularly when diagnosed early and treated appropriately, according to the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Li Tongzeng, chief physician at the infectious disease department of Beijing You An Hospital, told Shanghai-based media outlet ThePaper.cn that the transmission routes, treatment methods and prevention measures for plague are relatively well understood.

"Under the current prevention and control system, the possibility of a large-scale plague outbreak or community transmission is very low," Li said, urging the public not to panic.

Plague is a Class A infectious disease in China caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Humans can contract the disease through bites from infected fleas, direct contact with infected animals or their tissues, and inhalation of respiratory droplets from people or animals with pneumonic plague. The disease has three main clinical forms: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague and septicemic plague.

Symptoms may include sudden fever, chills, severe headache, vomiting, diarrhea, a rapid heartbeat and falling blood pressure. Severe cases may also involve impaired consciousness.