China: Thousands infected with zoonosis disease after factory leak

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More than 3,000 people have been diagnosed with brucellosis, caused by drinking unpasteurised milk or contact with livestock.

 

Brucellosis was caused by a leak at a vaccine factory in Lanzhou. Pic: National Health Commission/Chinanews.com

 

 

More than 3,000 people in northern China have been diagnosed with a bacterial infection after an outbreak caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year.

 

Almost 22,000 people in the city of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province, were tested and 3,245 came back positive for brucellosis, the National Health Commission (NHC) of Lanzhou has said.

 

 

The infection is a highly contagious zoonosis, which according to the NHS website is caused by drinking unpasteurised milk or dairy products, or contact with bodily fluids of farm animals, such as cows, goats, sheep and pigs.

 

Brucellosis can spread to humans from infected livestock, such as cows

 

 

Symptoms include a high temperature, loss of appetite, sweating, headaches, extreme tiredness and back and joint pain.

 

In a statement, the NHC said brucellosis was detected in November 2019, after a leak "caused by contaminated exhaust from a vaccine factory in Lanzhou, due to the use of expired disinfectant from late-July to mid-August last year".

 

Staff at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, an institution of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences near the factory, were infected - according to a report released by the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in late December.

 

The NHC says in response, 11 public hospitals in the city offered "free examinations and treatment".

 

Source