As the world battles one deadly disease in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of other diseases still persists. This holds true for China as well, which was also the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. According to the latest reports, thousands have been infected with the brucellosis disease in China, as of November, this year.
As per reports by the Hong Kong Standard, more than six thousand people have tested positive for brucellosis disease. The government has tested 55,725 people in the city, of which 6,620 are positive for brucellosis as of now, the Lanzhou government said at a press conference, according to a report on Thursday by the state-owned Global Times.
How does the Brucellosis disease normally spread?
It is an infectious disease caused by a group of bacteria from the genus Brucella. These bacteria can infect both humans and animals – such as sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and dogs, etc. Eating or drinking unpasteurized/raw dairy products is the most common way to be infected with bacteria. However, the bacteria that causes brucellosis can also be spread through the air or direct contact with infected animals. These bacteria can enter the body through open wounds or mucous membranes.
What led to the transmission of the Brucellosis disease to thousands in China?
The outbreak of the Brucellosis disease, however, cannot be attributed to the common modes of transmission of the bacteria – such as consumption of contaminated dairy products, or close contact with animals. The latest outbreak of the disease was first found about in 2019, in the month of November. Some students at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute had reportedly tested positive for the bacteria. By the end of the year, however, at least 181 people at the same institute had been infected.
In September this year, when around three thousand cases of the disease were reported from Lanzhou, it was reported that the outbreak had originated at a biopharmaceutical factory owned by Shanghai-listed China Animal Husbandry Industry Co. The factory had reportedly used expired disinfectant in July to August 2019 to make a vaccine for the bacterial infection, and the bacteria was left in its waste gas. Since brucellosis can spread through the air, the contaminated gas led to an outbreak of the bacterial disease.
While the disease transmission from person-to-person is very rare according to the CDC, infected nursing mothers can transmit the bacteria to their infants. Transmission of the disease can also occur through blood transfusions and tissue transplants, while sexual transmission has been rarely reported.
The disease is known to cause symptoms such as headaches, fever and others, but can also lead to serious complications such as effects on the reproductive system of both males and females, arthritis and others.
