Ziketan Town
Encyclopedia
Ziketan Town is a farming town
in Xinghai County
of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
, Qinghai
province, People's Republic of China. Ziketan town covers approximately 3000 square kilometres (1,158 sq mi) and has a population of 10,000.
Ziketan is 167 kilometres (103.8 mi) southwest of the Qinghai provincial capital of Xining
. Ziketan lies approximately 1300 kilometres (807.8 mi) west of Beijing
.
, a lung infection that can kill a human in 24 hours if left untreated. Police checkpoints were set up in a 17 miles (27.4 km) radius around Ziketan, and residents were not allowed to leave. Streets have been largely deserted and most shops shut, and 23 quarantine
stations have been set up in the town. The quarantine zone covers an area of 3500 square kilometres (1,351.4 sq mi) centred on the town.
The first casualty was a 32-year-old herder who had fallen ill after burying his dog, which had died suddenly after eating a marmot
infected with the bacterium
Yersinia pestis
. The dog's owner caught the disease while burying the dog, according to professor Wang Hu, director of the Qinghai disease control bureau. The herder died four days after the dog's burial, and the relatives who handled his funeral were showing symptoms within days. The 10 people sickened, mostly relatives of the herder, were undergoing isolated treatment in hospital, managed by the local health bureau. There are police guarding the quarantine center at the township hospital. On Sunday, a 37-year-old man identified only as Danzin, a neighbour of the first victim, became the second reported fatality from the outbreak. On Monday, a 64-year-old man named Danzhi, a neighbour of the first two victims, was the third fatality. As of August 6, no new cases of pneumonic plague had been found beyond the 12 patients in the town who were quarantined on July 31. Three have so far died and two are still in critical condition
.
The quaratine on the town was lifted on Saturday (2000 hrs, local time), August 8, 2009. This came after no reports of new infections for more than a week.
or fever
to seek hospital treatment. The World Health Organization
office in China is in close contact with Chinese health authorities. More than 140 epidemic-prevention professionals from the Ministry of Health and provincial-level institutions were working in the area.
In Ziketan, authorities have said homes and shops should be disinfected, and residents should wear face mask
s when they go out. Around 80 percent of the town's shops were closed on Monday, and prices of disinfectants and some vegetables have already tripled. County officials
distributed flyers and made television and radio announcements on how to prevent infection. Medical workers in Ziketan were disinfecting and killing rodents and insects that can be carriers for the bacterium that causes the plague. Authorities are keeping close track of people who came into contact with those infected.
This was the third outbreak of the disease in Qinghai
within the last 10 years. Provincial health authorities in Qinghai and central government have been concerned about pneumonic plague for some years. As of February 2009, there were 55 teams across the province tasked to monitor and control the disease
.
Town (China)
When referring to political divisions of China, town is the standard English translation of the Chinese 鎮 . It is a fourth-level administrative unit, i.e...
in Xinghai County
Xinghai County
Xinghai County is county under the jurisdiction of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, People's Republic of ChinaXinghai has an area of 13,158 square kilometers, and a 2001 population of 60,000....
of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture of northeastern Qinghai Province in Western China. The prefecture has an area of and its seat is located in Gonghe County...
, Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
province, People's Republic of China. Ziketan town covers approximately 3000 square kilometres (1,158 sq mi) and has a population of 10,000.
Ziketan is 167 kilometres (103.8 mi) southwest of the Qinghai provincial capital of Xining
Xining
Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...
. Ziketan lies approximately 1300 kilometres (807.8 mi) west of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
2009 pneumonic plague outbreak
The outbreak in Ziketan was first detected on Thursday, July 30, 2009. On August 2, the authorities quarantined Ziketan after a dozen people were sickened with pneumonic plaguePneumonic plague
Pneumonic plague, a severe type of lung infection, is one of three main forms of plague, all of which are caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It is more virulent and rare than bubonic plague...
, a lung infection that can kill a human in 24 hours if left untreated. Police checkpoints were set up in a 17 miles (27.4 km) radius around Ziketan, and residents were not allowed to leave. Streets have been largely deserted and most shops shut, and 23 quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
stations have been set up in the town. The quarantine zone covers an area of 3500 square kilometres (1,351.4 sq mi) centred on the town.
The first casualty was a 32-year-old herder who had fallen ill after burying his dog, which had died suddenly after eating a marmot
Marmot
The marmots are a genus, Marmota, of squirrels. There are 14 species in this genus.Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennines, Eurasian steppes, Carpathians, Tatras, and Pyrenees in...
infected with the bacterium
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals....
. The dog's owner caught the disease while burying the dog, according to professor Wang Hu, director of the Qinghai disease control bureau. The herder died four days after the dog's burial, and the relatives who handled his funeral were showing symptoms within days. The 10 people sickened, mostly relatives of the herder, were undergoing isolated treatment in hospital, managed by the local health bureau. There are police guarding the quarantine center at the township hospital. On Sunday, a 37-year-old man identified only as Danzin, a neighbour of the first victim, became the second reported fatality from the outbreak. On Monday, a 64-year-old man named Danzhi, a neighbour of the first two victims, was the third fatality. As of August 6, no new cases of pneumonic plague had been found beyond the 12 patients in the town who were quarantined on July 31. Three have so far died and two are still in critical condition
Critical Condition
Critical condition is a medical state.Critical Condition may also be:* Critical Condition , an episode of the television series Sex and the City* Critical Condition , a 1987 comedy film...
.
The quaratine on the town was lifted on Saturday (2000 hrs, local time), August 8, 2009. This came after no reports of new infections for more than a week.
Preparedness and response
Authorities urged anyone who had visited Ziketan town since mid-July and has developed a coughCough
A cough is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes...
or fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
to seek hospital treatment. The World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
office in China is in close contact with Chinese health authorities. More than 140 epidemic-prevention professionals from the Ministry of Health and provincial-level institutions were working in the area.
In Ziketan, authorities have said homes and shops should be disinfected, and residents should wear face mask
Face mask
Strictly, the expression face mask is tautological and means "mask", because masks by definition go on the face; but it is sometimes used to mean:*Respirator*Among divers, diving mask...
s when they go out. Around 80 percent of the town's shops were closed on Monday, and prices of disinfectants and some vegetables have already tripled. County officials
Xinghai County
Xinghai County is county under the jurisdiction of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, People's Republic of ChinaXinghai has an area of 13,158 square kilometers, and a 2001 population of 60,000....
distributed flyers and made television and radio announcements on how to prevent infection. Medical workers in Ziketan were disinfecting and killing rodents and insects that can be carriers for the bacterium that causes the plague. Authorities are keeping close track of people who came into contact with those infected.
This was the third outbreak of the disease in Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
within the last 10 years. Provincial health authorities in Qinghai and central government have been concerned about pneumonic plague for some years. As of February 2009, there were 55 teams across the province tasked to monitor and control the disease
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China based in Beijing, China. It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through partnerships...
.
External links
- Qinghai Provincial Health Department
- Qinghai Province Health Authority (supervisory body)
- Qinghai Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- World Health Organization China Office website
Video
- "Qinghai pneumonic plague under control" (China Central TelevisionChina Central TelevisionChina Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
; 2009-08-06 09:37 BJT)