THD News Desk, Lanzhou: A new bacterial disease has been detected in China, affecting 3245 people so far. The outbreak has been caused by a leak at a pharmaceutical company named “Zhongmu Lanzhou biopharmaceutical” in Lanzhou, northwest China, as initially reported by CNN.
- Brucellosis outbreak in Lanzhou, China
- 3245 test positive for Brucellosis
- ‘Contaminated exhaust’ cause a zoonotic disease
Named as “Brucellosis,” the bacterial outbreak is a ‘zoonotic disease‘ that is induced by contact with farm animals and domestic mammals like cows, goats, and pigs. Authorities have confirmed the presence of the bacteria in the Gansu province of China.
The National Health Commission of Lanzhou affirmed that 21,847 people have been tested so far. They also suggested that the outbreak has not resulted in any consequent deaths.
The outbreak’s causality has been hinted at “contaminated exhaust” from an animal vaccine producing factory in Lanzhou, China, as per the commission.
The Zhongmu Lanzhou factory was allegedly using expired disinfectants for more than a month, from late June to August end. It resulted in some bacteria surviving and getting dispensed in the environment through the waste gas.
SYMPTOMS OF THE BACTERIAL ILLNESS:
- Loss of appetite
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Fever
Healthcare officials are expecting to encounter more positive cases in the coming days. “Preliminarily” or 1st stage cases have been confirmed in another 1401 people in the affected region.
Very similar to the chronological events of how COVID-19 unfolded, the bacteria was contracted by 181 people working at a veterinary research result facility near the factory last year in December. However, an “outbreak” or a “pandemic” was not in order, so far.
The information of the Brucellosis outbreak surfaced only as China-based scientists strived for the coronavirus vaccine.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical giants of China, namely China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and Sinovac Biotech, have developed three experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidate shots launched as “vaccine emergency use programme” in early July.
So far, 85,000 cases have been confirmed for COVID-19 in China, while the mortality rate hangs at 4634.
With the world coping with the Wuhan-based coronavirus’s wrath, the probability of another pandemic being rolled out almost immediately has raised several questions on the healthcare and industrial credibility of China.
Amidst the tumult caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has transpired several other public health calamities globally, we ask if the world is ready for another epidemic.
As the epicenter of both outbreaks has been identified in distinguished regions of China, the one unsettling question that then looms out of the current global public health scenario is if the prevailing plight’s accountability should be arraigned on the most populous country of the world, China.