If Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was not enough, which has so far infected 3,02,11,680 people and caused 9,46,710 casualties, the reports of another deadly bacterial disease claiming thousands of lives in China have surfaced.
As per the Health Commission of Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province, more than 3,245 people have contracted the deadly ‘Brucellosis’. This outbreak was also caused last year from a leak at a Zhongmu Lanzhou biological pharmaceutical factory. Another 1,401 people have tested as preliminarily positive. As of now, there have been no casualties. The authorities have so far tested 21,847 people out of the city’s 2.9 million population.
Also known as Malta fever or Mediterranean fever, the ‘Brucellosis’ is often caused by contact with livestock carrying the bacteria brucella. The symptoms of ‘Brucellosis’ include Fever That Comes and Goes, Headache, Abdominal Pain, Joint Pain, Muscle and Back Pain, Fatigue, Chills, Sweat, Weight Loss and Appetite Loss. The United States (U.S.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that while these symptoms may subside, some symptoms can become chronic or never go away, like arthritis or swelling in certain organs.
These bacteria can also enter the human body through open wounds or mucous membranes. Other possible side effects of the disease include – arthritis, endocarditis – infection of the inner lining of heart, inflammation of the brain, meningitis – inflammation of membranes surrounding the brain. While human-to-human transmission is rare, most people are infected by eating contaminated food or breathing in the bacteria. Brucellosis is treated using antibiotics like Rifampin and Doxycycline. Recovery from the illness can take anywhere around a few weeks to several months.
The Health Commission of Lanzhou submits that while producing the Brucella vaccines for animal use, the Lanzhou factory used expired disinfectants and sanitizers, meaning not all bacteria were eradicated in the waste gas. This contaminated waste gas formed aerosols that contained the bacteria and leaked into the air. Triggered by wind, the outbreak went down to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, where the outbreak first hit. The cases started coming to light in November. By the end of 2019, 181 people have been infected.
Later, the outbreak spread to Heilongjiang Province, where 13 positive cases had worked in the veterinarian institute in August 2019. Meanwhile, the municipal officials launched an investigation into the leak at the factory. By January, authorities had revoked vaccine production licenses for the plant, and withdrew product approval numbers for its two Brucellosis vaccines.
In February 2020, the factory issued a public apology stating that it had severely punished 8 people who were determined as responsible for the incident. It is to be noted ‘Brucellosis’ had been much more common in China in the 1980s, but China has always declined it.
