MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The spread of the bubonic plague which has been registered in China and Mongolia is highly unlikely in Russia, Melita Vujnovic, World Health Organization representative in Russia told TASS, answering the question about the risk of the infection emerging on Russian territory.
She noted that the bubonic plague detected in China is characteristic of that region yet responds to treatment. "Plague is a rare disease, [occurring] mostly in certain geographic areas where it is still endemic. In China over the last decade some sporadic plague cases have been recorded. The bubonic plague is the most common form of this disease and is transmitted from animals to humans usually through flea bites or the direct contact with the bones or internal organs of the infected animal," she explained.
According to her, this illness is not readily transmitted from human to human. "Against the plague pathogen <...> there is an effective treatment with antibiotics and a vaccine. Therefore, it is highly improbable that the disease would be widespread in Russia even after the detection of single cases," the WHO representative stressed.
Earlier it had been reported that the authorities of the Bayannur city district of the Inner Mongolia autonomous district in northern China announced on Sunday the regime of heightened epidemiological risk due to the potential threat of local plague outbreaks. This decision was made after a local hospital admitted a patient with symptoms normally observed in bubonic plague patients. Due to the objective risks, the authorities recommend the population to observe personal hygiene and to avoid localities populated by rodents.
China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous district borders the state of Mongolia where earlier two confirmed cases of plague and one suspected infection had been reported.