China has sealed off Ziketan, a remote northwestern town of 10,000 people for quarantine purposes, state media said Monday. Two People have died and another ten people had contracted the disease in the ethnically Tibetan region of the sparsely populated province of Qinghai, Xinhua. World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the outbreaks are nothing new though and have said;

"There have been sporadic cases reported over the years. We are not surprised that it has come up. We're in constant contact with the authorities to make sure things are under control."

An official at the Qinghai government's health department said authorities were confident of keeping the outbreak under control.

"We have already closed off the infected area. We are currently treating those who are sick."

Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing. It is caused by the same bacteria that occurs in bubonic plague - the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.



News Source:
Reuters

Photo Source:
Straits Times

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