China warns of Bubonic plague amid COVID-19

Health authorities in a city in the Chinese region of inner Mongolia issued a warning after a suspected case of the infectious bubonic plague was reported in the city.

The authorities issued a level third warning of plague prevention and control which will continue until the end of 2020. The advisory forbids people from hunting and eating of animals that cause plague infections. It also asked the public to report the suspected cases.

The confirmed cases include a 27-year-old man and his younger brother who is 17. A total of 146 people who made contact with them have been put in quarantine and are in the treatment stage.

According to the World Health Organization, the bubonic plague is a highly bacterial infection and deadly disease that is linked to eating marmot meat. This plague can kill an adult in under 24 hours revealed the health experts. Human-to-human transmission is very rare. But any person with pneumonic plague may transmit disease through droplets

It can be deadly, but can be treated with commonly available antibiotics. The bubonic plague is characterised by swollen lymph nodes. It can be hard to identify in its early stages because symptoms, which usually develop after three to seven days, are flu-like. However, the bubonic plague, infamously known as Black Death, turning to an epidemic is unlikely.