Two people died of plague and three others who were infected
with the epidemic are recovering in the Tibet
Autonomous Region, southwest China, the information office of
the regional government reported Saturday.
The epidemic was spotted in Zhongba, a county in Xigaze
Prefecture that borders Nepal, and it was under control, the office
said.
The Ministry of Public Health reported the epidemic situation to
the World Health Organization and Nepal early Saturday morning.
Nine paviors in Qiongguo Township, who had come from Mianyang
City, southwest China's Sichuan
Province, ate marmot meat on June 11, and five of them later
felt sick.
They went to the county hospital a few days later. One of them
died on June 15, and another died on June 17. The other three are
still in hospital, but are recovering, Adain, head of the regional
public health department, said.
The autonomous regional public health department dispatched a
10-member task force to deal with the situation upon receiving
report of the epidemic on June 17.
Experts sent by the Ministry of Public Health arrived Xigaze on
June 20.
The work team traced 76 direct contacts, and 75 of them are now
under quarantine and show no abnormal syndromes. The other one, a
woman, went to Nepal through the border trade market on June 21 and
police in Zhongba are now searching for her around the market
area.
There was no report of new cases by 11:00 AM Saturday, and
quarantine will continue another 15 days, Adain said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2005)