China bubonic plague death: Town of 30,000 placed in quarantine after man dies

[Bosonic]

Source: The Independent

An entire Chinese town of 30,000 people has been quarantined off from the rest of the country after a man living in a nearby village died from bubonic plague.

Police have now had the old town of Yumen city in Gansu province sealed off for more than a week, the Xinhua state media agency said, after a patient died in a local hospital.

All movement between the centre of Yumen and the wider suburban area has been banned, with officers manning 10 checkpoints around the sealed-off district.

According to Xinhua, no one inside the city is currently believed to have contracted the plague, though 151 people who may have come into contact with the man have been placed under direct observation.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-bubonic-plague-death-town-of-30000-placed-in-quarantine-after-man-dies-sparking-black-death-outbreak-fears-9622375.html

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uhoh

[hobbit709]

1. There's got to be more to this story.

Seems like an overreaction. There's an average of two dozen cases a year in the U.S. and we don't react like this.

[LuvNewcastle]

2. I'm guessing that they don't have enough medicines needed

to contain an outbreak. You'd think that a country the size of China would have enough medicine for a town of 30,00 but maybe not.

[hobbit709]

3. Just found this article that wonders why too.

http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-officials-seal-off-plague-city-puzzling-us-080446975.html

[raccoon]

6. Good thinking! ITA. nt

[hedgehog]

9. I think that after the SARS outbreak, the Chinese learned that the best reaction

is an overreaction.

[WinkyDink]

4. "Town"? That's a small city, and it's scary. Unless we're just supposed to say, "Oh, those pesky

prairie dogs."

Oh, wait; that was pneumonic plague: http://upload.democraticunderground.com/1014845103

I guess we're okay now.

[heaven05]

5. it's back

[hobbit709]

7. It never left.

[onehandle]

8. 'You know it's the only country that still has the Plague? The Plague! ...Please!'

What Domestic Terrorists Are Teaching Our Children

[hedgehog]

10. Here is one possibility-

in today's economy, China has many people moving from the rural areas to cities. They tend to be under the radar, and they tend to sleep rough. I'm not sure if this is a city people move to, or a city that people move from, but either way closing off the city may be a good option.

[Brigid]

11. Yep. I read this.

I may still have my copy around here somewhere. The zombie pandemic started in the Three Gorges Dam region, as I recall.

[Javaman]

12. Even before opening the link, I thought "marmots"...

Given the history of the plague and it's known origins, I'm not the very least surprised.

[TwilightGardener]

13. An overreaction. People in my area have gotten bubonic plague

(prairie dogs), it's why I don't let my dogs and cats loose outside and keep up on their flea treatments. And if I find dead critters, I dispose of them with a shovel. My neighbor lets his dog dig down into the prairie dog burrows around our houses, so there's a lot of people who don't know any better, even here. Antibiotics, early treatment, and public education are key.