Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on CCP, disease control
News (1) to (4) / Editor : Fang Xun / Source : Epoch Times / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0810/2089388.html
News (1)
Anthrax from Shandong may have spread to Hebei, but the risk is difficult to estimate
Image : After the news of the anthrax outbreak in Yanggu, Shandong was spread by the public, it was reported online that anthrax patients were also found in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, another major cattle-breeding province. The picture shows a sculpture of cattle in the garden of Jinan Iron and Steel Group in Jinan City, Shandong Province.
Recently, many people in Yanggu, Shandong Province were infected with anthrax. Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, called for "paying attention to the potential anthrax contamination in the surrounding environment", and mainland media also revealed that the epidemic has spread.
Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, published an article on the "Huashan Infection" WeChat account on August 4 to talk about anthrax. He said: "For the infected people who have experienced a concentrated outbreak this time, we must pay attention to the potential anthrax contamination in the surrounding environment, and achieve effective disinfection and monitoring, especially strengthen the harmless treatment of sick animals and inject anthrax vaccines into animals in epidemic areas."
Zhang Wenhong's article was mainly issued in response to the anthrax cases in Qiji Town, Yanggu County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. According to the rumours circulating online, anthrax broke out in a farm in Qiji Town, dozens of cows died, and diseased beef products have flowed into the market. Many people were infected with anthrax and some died. At the same time, screenshots of relevant notices from local companies and the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of Shandong Province were also circulated online, attracting widespread attention.
According to the official statement of the Chinese Communist Party on 2 August 2024, a total of 5 anthrax infected people were found, with mild symptoms, and have been isolated for treatment. All livestock animals in the farm have been killed and harmlessly disposed of. The official media said that the disease is "preventable, controllable and curable."
On the same day, an interview report published by the WeChat public account of "Xiaoxiang Morning News" was also forwarded, and its content inadvertently revealed that anthrax has spread, and it is confirmed that it is not just "Yanggu Town, but also other towns and villages in other places."
Political commentator Tang Jingyuan told the Epoch Times that after the news of the anthrax outbreak in Yanggu, Shandong was spread by the public, the Chinese Communist Party authorities had to downplay it and claimed that the risk had been controlled, just like Wuhan concealed the covid outbreak. This is the CCP’s routine of maintaining stability in public opinion. The real situation is probably even more serious. Zhang Wenhong issued a message at this time to remind people to pay attention to the prevention of anthrax, which is obviously out of concern for the serious risk loopholes of anthrax in the local area.
News (2)
It is said that anthrax has also appeared in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
On 7 August 2024, someone posted a video on the X platform with the title "Anthrax has also appeared in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province." The scene in the video is a ward in a hospital in Shijiazhuang. A patient infected with anthrax is lying on the bed with wounds on his right arm and hand, which are black and swollen. In the video, after asking about the patient's condition, the doctor said to the camera that this person fed cattle before the onset of the disease and was infected because of the wounds. Although the anthrax test on the patient's skin was negative, the blood was positive, indicating that the patient had septicemic anthrax. (Click here to view the video)
According to the doctor, anthrax can cause pulmonary anthrax after entering the blood, and pulmonary anthrax is a contact infection and is managed as a Class A disease. The doctor also hopes that the drug can control the disease and prevent it from developing into pulmonary anthrax.
Whether anthrax has spread in Hebei, the reporter has not been able to verify, but Hebei is also a major cattle breeding province, ranking second only to Shandong.
News (3)
Anthrax bacteria are not easy to kill and have a high mortality rate
According to medical theories, anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by Bacillus anthracis. Bacillus anthracis exists naturally in soil all over the world and mainly affects herbivorous animals such as cattle, sheep and horses. Humans are usually infected by contact or ingestion of infected animal products, or by inhaling large amounts of anthrax spores. The key population for anthrax is mainly engaged in cattle and sheep livestock breeding, slaughtering and selling related products, and fur processing. Anthrax is rarely transmitted from person to person.
So why is anthrax so terrible, and how is it spread? Wang Yuan, a former Beijing Hospital physician living in Japan, said in an interview with the Epoch Times that anthrax bacteria are quite tenacious. Under unfavorable conditions, they will transform into spores and survive in the soil, grass, animal fur or air for many years, even decades. Once ingested, the spores will be activated and divide, multiply bacteria, and harm humans and animals. Because anthrax is difficult to eliminate from the natural environment, it is not enough to bury infected livestock. They must be incinerated in special high-temperature incineration containers.
Wang Yuan introduced that there are three types of anthrax, the most common of which is "cutaneous anthrax", accounting for more than 95% of anthrax cases. Anthrax bacteria enter the body through wounds on the surface of the skin, forming red macules at the infected site, and then raised plaques, blisters or pustules and ulcers. In typical cases, the ulcer is black and necrotic in the center, with edema around it. If treated early, antibiotics can be used to control it. The mortality rate of cutaneous anthrax is as high as 20%. If the patient develops bacteremia, it is usually accompanied by a high fever, which will soon lead to shock and death.
"Gastrointestinal anthrax" is another type, which is caused by eating uncooked contaminated meat. The incubation period is about 3 to 7 days. The initial symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea. If not treated immediately, it may lead to death.
"What Chinese people lack most is the right to know. The CCP's suppression of speech has the danger that infected meat may be circulated in the market. If people eat it, it may cause gastrointestinal anthrax, and the mortality rate is very high. If the cold storage where the diseased beef is frozen is not disinfected, it will also infect the beef and mutton stored later." Wang Yuan said.
The most difficult to treat is "respiratory anthrax". It is caused by inhaling anthrax spores. The incubation period is about 1 to 3 days. The initial symptoms are very similar to viral respiratory infections. The symptoms range from shortness of breath, nausea, sore throat, high fever to difficulty breathing, shock, and meningitis. If rescue is not timely, death may occur within 1 day.
Wang Yuan said, "Respiratory anthrax is very scary. Once the inhaled spores are greater than 10,000, it may cause pulmonary anthrax and sepsis, with a mortality rate close to 100%, so it is an excellent source of biological weapons. The Japanese Unit 731 used anthrax bacteria for research."
The first incident in which anthrax bacteria was used as a biological weapon that attracted worldwide attention was the 2001 anthrax biological attack in the United States. 22 people were infected with anthrax after contacting anthrax spore powder mailed to them, and 5 of them died.
News (4)
The risk of anthrax in CCP China
According to the official website of the World Health Organization, since the 1980s, about 2,000 people have developed anthrax each year worldwide, most commonly in Africa and Central and South Asia, and rarely in Northern Europe and North America.
Statistics from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that in the past 10 years, about 300 to 500 people have been infected with anthrax each year in China. The incidence of anthrax in Shandong Province has been on the rise in recent years.
According to the reports of anthrax in China from 1955 to 2014 summarized by Yu Hongjie and others from Fudan University (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27983489/), a total of 86.7% of cases occurred in farmers and herders during the period from 2005 to 2014. The anthrax incidence in Shandong Province is 0%.
By 2021, two cases of anthrax in Shandong Province were reported by the media. A 14-year-old student died eight days after the onset of the disease. The student's family bought sick cows for slaughter, and he participated in the transportation of beef in his own cold storage. The other male patient was the one who went to the student's home to slaughter the cow.
This time, an anthrax outbreak in Yanggu, Shandong, has caused a surge in the number of infections, but the authorities have not explained the route of infection.
Cai Ping (pseudonym), a local resident in Shandong, told the Epoch Times that he heard that the sick cows in Yanggu were pulled from Heilongjiang, and dozens of them died after returning. They were not reported at first and the meat was frozen. Later, the matter became serious, and many people said that someone died of the disease, so they reported it for investigation. Epoch Times reporters are currently unable to conduct an independent investigation on this statement.
Heilongjiang has always been a major cattle-raising province in China, and it is also a high-incidence area for anthrax. In 2018, Heilongjiang reported 14 cases of anthrax infection. The epidemic situation is basically the same as in previous years.
On 24 June 2024, the Heilongjiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health reminder for July to the whole province, including more than ten infectious diseases such as cholera, hand, foot and mouth disease, plague, and anthrax. On 3 July 2024, the Heilongjiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued an anthrax health risk warning. In more than a week, two reminders to prevent anthrax indicate that the situation is not simple.
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