Zigortang Town (), Zigongtang Town (), or Ziketan Town () is a farming

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Xinghai County of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

province, People's Republic of China. Zigortang town covers approximately and has a population of 10,000. Zigortang is southwest of the Qinghai provincial capital of

Xining Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...

. Zigortang lies approximately west of

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 ...

2009 pneumonic plague outbreak

The outbreak in Zigortang was first detected on Thursday, July 30, 2009. On August 2, the authorities quarantined Zigortang after a dozen people were sickened with

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 ...

, a lung infection that can kill a human in 24 hours if left untreated. Police checkpoints were set up in a radius around Zigortang, and residents were not allowed to leave. The streets were largely deserted and most shops shut, and 23

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 ...

stations were set up in the town. The quarantine zone covered an area of centred on the town. The first casualty was a 32-year-old herder who had fallen ill after burying his dog, which had died suddenly after eating a marmot infected with the

bacterium Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...

Yersinia pestis ''Yersinia pestis'' (''Y. pestis''; formerly ''Pasteurella pestis'') is a Gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative, non-motile bacteria, non-motile, coccobacillus Bacteria, bacterium without Endospore, spores. It is related to pathogens ''Yer ...

''. The dog's owner caught the disease while burying the dog, according to professor Wang Hu, director of the Qinghai disease control bureau. The herder died four days after the dog's burial, and the relatives who handled his funeral were showing symptoms within days. The 10 people sickened, mostly relatives of the herder, were undergoing isolated treatment in hospital, managed by the local health bureau. Police guarded the quarantine center at the township hospital. On Sunday, a 37-year-old man identified only as Danzin, a neighbour of the first victim, became the second reported fatality from the outbreak. On Monday, a 64-year-old man named Danzhi, a neighbour of the first two victims, was the third fatality. As of August 6, no new cases of pneumonic plague had been found beyond the 12 patients in the town who were quarantined on July 31. As of August 6, three patients died and two were still in critical condition. The quarantine on the town was lifted on Saturday (2000 hrs, local time), August 8, 2009. This came after no reports of new infections for more than a week.

Preparedness and response

Authorities urged anyone who had visited Zigortang town since mid-July and has developed a

cough A cough is a sudden expulsion of air through the large breathing passages which can help clear them of fluids, irritants, foreign particles and Microorganism, microbes. As a protective reflex, coughing can be repetitive with the cough reflex fol ...

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

to seek hospital treatment. 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 ...

office in China is in close contact with Chinese health authorities. More than 140 epidemic-prevention professionals from the Ministry of Health and provincial-level institutions were working in the area. In Zigortang, authorities have said homes and shops should be disinfected, and residents should wear face masks when they go out. Around 80 percent of the town's shops were closed on Monday, and prices of

disinfectant A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than ...

s and some vegetables have already tripled. County officials distributed flyers and made television and radio announcements on how to prevent infection. Medical workers in Zigortang were disinfecting and killing rodents and insects that can be carriers for the bacterium that causes the plague. Authorities are keeping close track of people who came into contact with those infected. This was the third outbreak of the disease in

within the last 10 years. Provincial health authorities in Qinghai and central government have been concerned about pneumonic plague for some years. As of February 2009, there were 55 teams across the province tasked to monitor and control the disease.

References

External links

Qinghai Provincial Health Department

Qinghai Province Health Authority
(supervisory body)
Qinghai Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention

World Health Organization China Office website

Video

"Qinghai pneumonic plague under control"
(

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is the State media, national television broadcaster of China, established in 1958. CCTV is operated by the National Radio and Television Administration which reports directly to the Publicity Department of th ...

; 2009-08-06 09:37 BJT) {{Authority control Cities in Qinghai Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Township-level divisions of Qinghai

2009 pneumonic plague outbreak

Preparedness and response

See also

References

External links

Video