November 23, 2014
An entire town in northwest China where two people have now died of pneumonic plague remains sealed off to prevent the spread of the deadly lung disease.
The official Xinhua (shin-wah) News Agency says the latest
fatality is a 37-year-old man who died Sunday. He was a neighbor of
the first person who died. Another 10 people, mostly relatives of
the first deceased man, were infected with the highly contagious
disease and are undergoing isolated treatment in a hospital.
The World Health Organization says pneumonic plague is spread
through the air and can be passed from person to person through
It is caused by the same bacteria that occurs in bubonic plague,
the so-called Black death that killed millions during the Middle
Pneumonic plague is one of the deadliest infectious diseases,
able to kill within 24 hours.
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