Brucellosis Spreads in China due to Leaks in Biopharmaceutical Plants

KOMPAS.com – Thousands of people in the northwest China tested positive for Brucellosis, the plague which emerged because of a leak at a biopharmaceutical plant in China.

Quoting CNN, Lanzhou Health Commission, Gansu, China, said 3,245 people have contracted this disease.

In total, the health commission tested 21,847 people out of the city’s 2.9 million population.

Origin of the plague

Plague originated from a leak that occurred at the Zhongmu Lanzhou biopharmaceutical plant which occurred at the end of July to the end of August 2019.

The leak occurred while the factory was producing a vaccine Brucella for animals.

At that time, factories used expired disinfectants and cleaners, so not all bacteria were successfully eradicated.

As a result, waste in the form of gas is contaminated, then forms an aerosol that contains bacteria and leaks into the air.

The gas was carried away by the wind, spreading to the Lanzhou Animal Research Institute, where the outbreak first hit.

The institute reported the first infections in November 2019 and the number of infected has since increased.

According to the Chinese News Agency, Xinhua, as quoted CNN, at the end of December 2019, as many as 181 people at the institute were infected with Brucellosis.

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