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中國內蒙古地區最近封鎖了一個村莊，該村有居民死於死於鼠疫。鼠疫是百年歷史的疾病，是人類歷史上最致命的大流行病。
包頭市衛生委員會在其網站上的一份聲明中說，已向包頭市衛生部門報告了死亡情況，6日證實了受害者是黑死病。
聲明說，患者死於循環系統故障。它沒有提到病人是如何感染鼠疫的。
為了遏制這種疾病的傳播，當局封鎖了死者居住的蘇吉新村，並下令每天對房屋進行消毒。聲明說，到目前為止，所有村民都對該疾病進行了陰性測試。
該委員會說，已經隔離了該患者的9個密切接觸者和26個次要接觸者，並測試為陰性。
到今年年底，該村莊所在的地區達茂旗已被設置為三級警報，以預防鼠疫，在四級系統中排名第二低。
這是中國今年確診的第二起鼠疫，也是首例死亡。
先前的病例是在7月在內蒙古另一個城市巴彥淖爾發現的，這導致了另一級3級警報的發出並關閉了幾個旅遊景點。
在中世紀的黑死病大流行期間，由細菌引起的鼠疫通過跳蚤叮咬和受感染的動物傳播，在歐洲造成大約5000萬人死亡。
腺鼠疫是鼠疫的三種形式之一，它引起淋巴結腫大，發燒，發冷和咳嗽。
如果能夠及早發現，可以治療大多數感染的抗生素的出現有助於遏制瘟疫的爆發，防止了中世紀在歐洲見證的迅速傳播。
但是並沒有完全消除它-並且它最近又捲土重來，導致世界衛生組織（WHO）將其歸類為重新出現的疾病。
常見復發
世衛組織表示，每年有1000至2,000人患上鼠疫。但是這個總數可能太小了，因為它沒有考慮未報告的案件。
根據2016年的數據，幾乎每個大陸都有鼠疫的可能性，尤其是美國西部，巴西的部分地區，東南非洲的零星地區以及中國，印度和中東的廣大地區。
根據美國疾病控制和預防中心的數據，在美國，每年有數至數十起鼠疫病例。2015年，科羅拉多州有2人死於鼠疫，而前一年該州報告了8起病例。
國家衛生委員會發布的數據顯示，2009年至2019年間，中國報告了31例鼠疫病例，其中12例死亡。
包頭政府6日警告說，有「人類瘟疫在城市蔓延」的危險，並敦促公眾採取額外的預防措施，如果出現發燒或咳嗽症狀，應立即就醫。
他們還敦促人們在旅行時減少與野生動物的接觸，並避免狩獵，剝皮或進食可能引起感染的動物。
根據新華社的報導，上個月在蒙古確認了兩例鼠疫鼠疫-兩個兄弟倆都吃過土撥鼠肉。2019年5月，蒙古的另一對夫婦在吃了土撥鼠的生腎後死於鼠疫，人們認為這是對身體健康的民間療法。
土撥鼠是一種大型的地松鼠，在中國和鄰國蒙古的某些地區食用，歷史上曾在該地區引起鼠疫暴發。
據信，土撥鼠引起了1911年的肺鼠疫流行，在中國東北地區造成約63,000人死亡。人們一直在搜尋它的皮毛，這種皮毛在國際貿易中廣受歡迎。患病土撥鼠的皮草產品在全國各地交易和運輸-一路上感染了成千上萬人。＊
China seals off village after bubonic plague death in Inner Mongolia
Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have sealed off a village after a resident there died from bubonic plague, a centuries-old disease responsible for the most deadly pandemic in human history.
The death was reported to health authorities in Baotou city on Sunday and the victim was confirmed to be a bubonic plague patient on Thursday, the Baotou Municipal Health Commission said in a statement on its website.
The patient died of circulatory system failure, according to the statement. It did not mention how the patient had caught the plague.
To curb the spread of the disease, authorities sealed off Suji Xincun village, where the dead patient lived, and ordered daily disinfection of homes. All villagers have so far tested negative for the disease, the statement said.
Nine close contacts and 26 secondary contacts of the patient have been quarantined and tested negative, the commission said.
Damao Banner, the district where the village is located, has been put on Level 3 alert for plague prevention, the second lowest in a four-level system, until the end of the year.
This is the second case -- and first death -- of bubonic plague China has confirmed this year. The previous case was discovered in July in Bayannur, another city in Inner Mongolia, leading to the issuing of another Level 3 alert and the closure of several tourist spots.
Plague, caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals, killed an estimated 50 million people in Europe during the Black Death pandemic in the Middle Ages.
Bubonic plague, which is one of plague's three forms, causes painful, swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, chills, and coughing.
The advent of antibiotics, which can treat most infections if they are caught early enough, has helped to contain plague outbreaks, preventing the type of rapid spread witnessed in Europe in the Middle Ages.
But it has not been eliminated it entirely -- and it has made a recent comeback, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to categorize it as a re-emerging disease.
Common recurrence
Anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 people get the plague every year, according to the WHO. But that total is likely too modest an estimate, since it doesn't account for unreported cases.
According to 2016 data, the possibility of plague exists on almost every continent, especially the western United States, parts of Brazil, scattered areas in southeast Africa and large swaths of China, India and the Middle East.
In the US, there have been anywhere from a few to a few dozen cases of plague every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2015, two people in Colorado died from the plague, and the year before there were eight reported cases in the state.
In China, 31 cases of plague were reported between 2009 and 2019, including 12 deaths, according to data released by the National Health Commission.
On Thursday, Baotou authorities warned of a risk of "a human plague epidemic spreading in the city," and urged the public to take extra precautions and seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms of fever or coughing.
They also urged people to reduce contact with wild animals while traveling and avoid hunting, skinning or eating animals that could cause infection.
Last month, two cases of bubonic plague were confirmed in Mongolia -- brothers who had both eaten marmot meat, according to China's state-run news agency Xinhua. In May 2019, another couple in Mongolia died from the plague after eating the raw kidney of a marmot, thought to be a folk remedy for good health.
Marmots a type of large ground squirrel that is eaten in some parts of China and the neighboring country Mongolia, and which have historically caused plague outbreaks in the region.
The marmot is believed to have caused the 1911 pneumonic plague epidemic, which killed about 63,000 people in northeast China. It was hunted for its fur, which soared in popularity among international traders. The diseased fur products were traded and transported around the country -- infecting thousands along the way.