By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 11:02 PM on 03rd August 2009
Chinese authorities have put a whole town in quarantine after an outbreak of horrifying pneumonic plague.
Two people have died from the highly contagious disease, an even more powerful brother of The Black Death – the bubonic plague believed to have wiped out a quarter of the population of Europe in the 14th Century.
Pneumonic plague is one of the most virulent and deadly diseases on earth, usually fatal within 24 hours.
Outbreak: Two men have died of pneumonic plague in the Qinghai region of China
It attacks the lungs and kills nearly everyone who catches it unless they get rapid treatment with antibiotics.
A dozen people in the stricken town of Ziketan have so far been infected. The disease spreads fast and is passed from person to person by coughing.
Authorities in northwest China have sealed off the remote town of 10,000 people and begun a treatment and quarantine programme.
Residents are terrified, shops have been shuttered, homes disinfected, face masks distributed, there has been panic buying and streets are deserted, witnesses reported.
The World Health Organisation said it was in close contact with Chinese health authorities and that measures taken so far were appropriate.
The first to die was a 32-year-old herdsman whose name has not been given. One of his neighbours, identified only as Danzin, 37, was the second victim, dying on Sunday.
Another 10 people, mostly relatives of the first dead man, were infected and are undergoing isolated treatment in hospital in the town in Qinghai province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
A team of experts has been sent to the area and the local health bureau warned that anyone with a cough or fever who has visited the town since mid-July should seek hospital treatment.
The sparsely populated area is mostly inhabited by Tibetans and officials hope its isolation will help contain the outbreak.
Isolated: The rural town of Ziketan has been placed under quarantine
A food seller named Han at Ziketan’s Crystal Alley Market said authorities have told residents to disinfect homes and shops and wear masks when they go out.
He said 80 per cent of shops in the town were closed and that the prices of disinfectants and some vegetables have tripled.
'People are so scared. There are few people on the streets,' Han said by telephone. 'There are police guarding the quarantine centre at the township hospital but not on the streets.'
Police checkpoints have been set up at a 17-mile radius around the town and no one is being allowed to leave the area.
Officials have distributed flyers and made TV and radio announcements on how to prevent infection. Authorities are trying to track down people who had contact with the men who died.
The situation in Ziketan was stable, according to an official at the local disease control centre, who said the measures taken were 'scientific, orderly, effective and in accordance with the law.'
WHO spokeswoman Vivian Tan said China reported the first death and 11 other cases to the organisation on Saturday.
Such an outbreak was always a concern, she said, but praised the Chinese for reacting quickly.
'When it comes to outbreaks of the plague it's always quite worrying, but it looks like the authorities have got the situation under control,' she said.
'This area is quite remote and the population is very small so this should make it easier to contain.'
Experts said the authorities were being very open – in contrast to previous cases.
Health officials in Qinghai have been concerned about pneumonic plague for some time.
In February, they said they had sent out 55 teams across the province to help monitor and control the disease.
First symptoms of pneumonic plague include fever, headache and shortness of breath.
In 2004, eight villagers in Qinghai province died of plague, most of them infected after killing or eating wild marmots, animals that are related to gophers and prairie dogs.
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