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2 people diagnosed with the plague in China

Two people in China were diagnosed with the plague, also known as Black Death, setting off a panic in the country.
Scanning electron micrograph of Yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic plague, on proventricular spines of a Xenopsylla cheopis flea. (National Institute of Health via National Inst. of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

BEIJING (WTHR) — Two people in China were diagnosed with the plague setting off a panic in the country.

Beijing officials reported that two infected people tested positive for pneumonic plague also known as Black Death, according to The New York Times.

The patients were isolated and an investigation into who may have been exposed was conducted. Authorities also disinfected specific sites.

According to NYT, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that there was no need for residents to panic and that the risks of transmission at this point is “extremely low.”

Pneumonic plague is one of three types of infectious disease caused by the same bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Symptoms of pneumonic plague include high fevers, trouble breathing, cough, weakness and bloody mucus.

If left untreated, the illness is always fatal. Luckily, recovery rates are high if detected and treated with antibiotics, within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, according to the World Health Organization.

In the 14th century, an outbreak of the plague also known as Black Death once killed tens of millions of people in Europe, Asia and Africa.

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