Over the weekend two people in Henan Tibetan Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, died of the pneumonic plague, and another 10 have been confirmed infected.  Chinese authorities learned of the outbreak on Friday, July 30th. In response,  they quarantined 10,000 people in Ziketan Town, believed to be the plague’s source.  Most of those infected are close friends or relatives of a 32 year old herdsman who was the first to die of the plague.  The second death was his close friend.  I have produced a map illustrating Ziketan’s location for any worried readers (or worried parents of asia health care bloggers) living in China or who have friends/family here.

Pneumonic plague is the second rarest and second most contagious variant of plague.  Proper treatment requires that antibiotics be given within 24 hours of transmission of the disease.  Without treatment the mortality rate for this disease approaches 100%.   It is good to see that this threat has been treated very seriously by Chinese public health authorities.  (Health authorities all over the world, if they have not already, would be wise to take note – the plague is re-emerging around the world.)

There are signs that the authorities -  through no fault of their own – but due to the severity and the quickness of the disease are having a hard time saving some of the sickened victims.  There is a discrepancy in two reports issued within twenty minutes of each other this morning.  China Daily reported at 7:45 am that

The 11 infected, who have been hospitalized in quarantined wards, are in stable condition.

Xinhua reported at 7:19 am this morning that a second person, a neighbor of the 32 year old herdsmen, had died.

Danzin, 37, in Ziketan town, Xinghai county of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture died Sunday morning. He is a neighbor of the first dead, a 32-year-old herdsman,

If one was to read the reports verbatim, it would appear as if Danzin, 37, had come back to life and returned to stable condition 25 minutes after he was reported dead!

Whatever the case, the lesson from this is that  ‘stable condition’ can mean anything.  In this instance, however, I just think its an interesting minor gaffe amidst an otherwise  swift Chinese public health response that appears to have effectively stemmed the further spread of the plague.  But, based on what we know about the nasty nature of the pneumonic plague, it should suprise no one if a few more of those ‘stable’ patients die within the next 24 hours.