3-year-old boy suspected of contracting bubonic plague in China

Another case of bubonic plague in 2020 has been reportedly detected in China.

A three-year-old boy in China’s southwest Yunnan Province is suspected to have contracted bubonic plague, according to the Global Times.

The paper reported that the case is the only one detected in the province so far, citing local officials in Menghai county. It also reported that the boy suffered from a mild infection, but is in a stable condition after receiving treatment.

Bubonic plague 2020

The infection was found during a county-wide screening, which was a result of the discovery of three rats that were found dead for unknown reasons in a village, the report said.

According to Global Times, Menghai county has started a level IV emergency response to prevent the spread of the disease. This is not the first case of bubonic plague reported this year.

Earlier in July and August, China confirmed two cases of bubonic plague in northern province Inner Mongolia, according to a statement on the local health authority’s website.

The second case — and the first death — died of circulatory system failure, reports said; however, it did not mention how the patient had caught the plague.

Bubonic plague symptoms

A centuries-old disease responsible for the most deadly pandemic in human history, bubonic plague is caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals. Bubonic plague, which is one of three plague forms, causes painful, swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, chills and coughing.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), plague can be easily treated with antibiotics and the use of standard preventative measures. 

The advent of antibiotics, which can treat most infections if they are caught early enough, has helped to contain plague outbreaks, preventing the type of rapid spread witnessed in Europe in the Middle Ages.

It, however, has not been eliminated entirely, and it has made a recent comeback. It is considered as a re-emerging disease, WHO said, but it noted that bubonic plague cannot be transmitted from human to human.

This article was first published in theAsianparent.