3 Aug 2009

The plague in west China

A second man has died of pneumonic plague in a remote part of north-west China where a town of more than 10,000 people has been sealed off.

The 37-year-old victim was a neighbour of the first person to die from the plague, a herdsman aged 32 in Ziketan, near Xinghai in Qinghai Province.

nuremberg-chronicles-danceofdeath

Pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, can spread from person to person or from animals to people.

A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, Vivian Tan, said an outbreak such as this was always a concern, but praised the Chinese for reacting quickly and for getting the situation under control.

BBC NEWS