Picture of Manchurian Plague victims in 1910 -1911

The Manchurian plague was a

pneumonic plague Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium '' Yersinia pestis''. Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing. They typically start about three to seven days after exposure. It is o ...

that occurred mainly in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

in 1910–1911. It killed 60,000 people, stimulating a multinational medical response and the wearing of the first

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

(PPE). The plague is thought to have originated from a

tarbagan marmot The tarbagan marmot (''Marmota sibirica'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in China (Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang), northern and western Mongolia, and Russia (southwest Siberia, Tuva, Transbaikalia). In the Mongol ...

which was infected with

bacterial pneumonia Bacterial pneumonia is a type of pneumonia caused by bacterial infection. Types Gram-positive '' Streptococcus pneumoniae'' () is the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia in all age groups except newborn infants. ''Streptococcus pneumoniae ...

. The disease was spread when marmot fur hunters gathered together during the winter months, and then infected

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

during the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

. The

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

-trained doctor

Wu Lien-teh Wu Lien-teh ( zh, t=伍連德, p=Wǔ Liándé, poj=Gó͘ Liân-tek, j=Ng5 Lin4 Dak1; Goh Lean Tuck and Ng Leen Tuck in Minnan and Cantonese transliteration respectively; 10 March 1879 – 21 January 1960) was a Malayan physician renowned for ...

led Chinese efforts to end the plague, and promoted

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

and the wearing of

cloth face mask A cloth face mask is a mask made of common textiles, usually cotton, worn over the mouth and nose. When more effective masks are not available, cloth face masks are recommended by public health agencies for disease source control in epidemic s ...

s as safety measures. The hardest hit cities included

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, and Mukden. Although the disease was largely confined to Manchuria, a number of plague cases were reported in cities such as

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

. The Manchurian plague highlighted the importance of a multinational medical response, setting precedents for organizations such as the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. Wu Lien-teh's widespread promotion of cloth plague mask-wearing by doctors, nurses, patients, contacts, and (to the degree that it was possible) the population at large was the first time such an epidemic containment measure had been attempted. The event was also influential in establishing the use of

to stop the spread of disease, and is credited for the origins of the modern

hazmat suit A hazmat suit is a piece of personal protective equipment that consists of an permeation, impermeable whole-body or one piece garment worn as protection against hazardous materials. Such suits are often combined with self-contained breathing ap ...

. __TOC__

History

The plague is thought to have originated from a

infected with bacterial pneumonia. Tarbagan marmots were hunted for their fur in Manchuria. It was an airborne spread disease and was incredibly deadly, with a near 100 percent mortality rate. Its spread was magnified by marmot hunters gathering in the bitter winter months, and the eventual travel of migrant workers during the

. Russia and Japan both had economic interests in the region and needed to cooperate with Chinese authorities. The

-trained doctor

led Chinese efforts to end the plague, and promoted

and the wearing of

s. He also convened the International Plague Conference in

Mukden Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. It is the province's most populous city with a p ...

in April 1911, the first major event of its kind that brought together an international team of scientists concerned with disease control. The Chinese government also sought the support of foreign doctors, a number of whom died as a consequence of the disease. In Harbin, this included the Frenchman Gérald Mesny, from the Imperial Medical College in Tientsin, who disputed Wu's recommendation of masks; a few days later, he died after catching the plague when visiting patients without wearing a mask. Another was the 26-year-old Arthur F. Jackson, a

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; , ) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), majority of the 19th-cen ...

missionary doctor, who fell ill within eight days of inspecting and quarantining hundreds of poor laborers; he died two days later in Mukden. In the end, the death toll reached some 60,000 lives. The hardest hit cities included

, and Mukden. Although the disease was largely confined to Manchuria, cases were found elsewhere in cities such as

and

Significance

The Manchurian plague is believed to have highlighted the importance of a multinational medical response, setting precedents for organizations such as the

to stop the spread of disease, and is credited for the origins of the modern

. Parallels have also been made between the management and control of the Manchurian plague and other outbreaks of infectious disease such as the Ebola epidemic in West Africa (2013–2016) and COVID-19 pandemic (2019–present).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchurian plague 1910 disasters in China 1911 disasters in China 1910 disease outbreaks 1911 disease outbreaks 1910s epidemics Disease outbreaks in China 20th century in Manchuria Qing dynasty Plague (disease)