Over 3,000 people have contracted brucellosis, a highly dangerous zoonotic bacterial illness, in Lanzhou in northwest China. The outbreak was prompted by a 2019 contaminated waste gas leak at a pharmaceutical plant that produces animal vaccines.

Brucellosis

Lanzhou authorities confirmed that 3,245 people had been diagnosed with brucellosis - a zoonotic illness normally acquired through contact with farm animals including cows, pigs, and goats. According to the commission, public hospitals would provide free and consultations for every infected patient.

This comes as Chinese scientists continue to create a vaccine for COVID-19, a respiratory illness that originated in Wuhan, China. Authorities have tested 21,847 individuals in total out of the city's population of 2.9 million. There have been no confirmed fatalities.

What exactly is brucellosis?

This illness is also named Malta fever or Mediterranean fever. It is caused by a cluster of bacteria from the genus Brucella. Other than coming in close contact with infected farm animals, human-to-human transmission of the illness is very rare.

People could also contract the illness through eating infected food including contagious and unpasteurized milk or cheese. It can also be acquired by inhaling the airborne agents of the illness, reported E Times.

Gao Hong's Case

In September 2019, a 40-year-old shopkeeper Gao Hong in the city of Lanzhou was hit with crippling joint pain and stubborn fever. It took almost half a year for doctors to identify her condition as brucellosis, the animal-borne bacterial disease, reported Nikkei.

Gao had missed the opportunity for the most successful treatment. This left her with a chronic condition that necessitates long-term medication. Starting in July, it has been difficult for her to walk without assistance due to joint pain from the Zoonotic disease in China.

Also Read: AstraZeneca Vaccine Deemed Unsafe, Trials Paused After Illness

Symptoms of brucellosis

Symptoms of the contagion include loss of appetite, muscle pain, headaches, fatigue, and fever.

According to the National Health Commission of Lanzhou, in Gansu province, the outbreak had resulted from "contaminated exhaust" from the said factory in Lanzhou manufacturing vaccines for animals.

The leak transpired between late July and late August in 2019. The factory made use of expired disinfectants and sanitizers during the production of brucella vaccines for animal use. This resulted in not all bacteria being eradicated in the waste gas.

Another 1,401 individuals were diagnosed with the illness and health officials stated that there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission.

Contagious gas from the China Animal Husbandry Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory developed aerosols consisting of the bacteria. This was declared airborne to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, infecting almost 200 people there as of December 2019.

According to the National Health Service (NHS) website, the illness is a greatly contagious zoonosis.

In a released statement, the NHC stated that brucellosis was detected in November last year following 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," reported MSN.

A report issued by the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in late December 2019 indicated that staff members at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, an institution of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences near the factory, were transmitted by the Zoonotic disease in China.

Related Article: WHO Says Vaccine Not the Ultimate Solution for COVID-19