A total of 24 people were killed by plague between 2001 and 2005 on the Chinese mainland.

The plague was reported in human beings in 43 counties of seven provinces and regions over the past five years.

The disease that can spread between rats and human beings and then from human to human, was reported among wild and household rats in 278 counties of 14 provinces and regions in the same period.

Among these counties, 13 reported epidemics in the rat population, according to a national programme fighting against the plague (2006-10) released by the Ministry of Health at the weekend.

These regions are mainly located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The disease, which can also be contracted through breathing in airborne particles and close contact with infected rodents, can cause septicaemia or pneumonia. It can be cured by anti-viral medicines now, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, incubation periods can be brief, making it difficult to treat, said experts from the Chinese Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Also, because the majority of these epidemic spots are located in rural and remote regions where surveillance and medical treatment are scarce, the death rate from the disease is still quite high at between 40 to 60 per cent.

In Nangqen County of Qinghai Province, the plague once spread among at least four families in 2004. By the county-level centre for disease control was informed, six people had already died.

In the Tibet Autonomous Region, victims usually become infected while hunting wild marmots that carry the plague bacterium.

The Ministry of Health also warned both the public and medical workers to watch out for the signs of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis.

The disease with symptoms of high fever and headache caused about 200 deaths among nearly 3,000 cases a year in China.

Foot-and-mouth disease

In another development, the Ministry of Agriculture said last night that outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease had been reported in Xuzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province and Zhongwei in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China, affecting 21 cows.

Local health workers in Xuzhou culled 100 cows, and those in Zhongwei slaughtered 89 cows and 110 sheep to curb the spread of the disease.

(China Daily 01/17/2006 page2)