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Pneumonic plague kills two, infects 10 in Qinghai

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-03 13:45

The pneumonic plague has killed two people and infected ten others in northwest China's Qinghai Province as of 8:00pm on Sunday, cnr.cn, China national radio website reported today.

Related readings:  One dies of Pneumonic plague in Qinghai

The ten infected people have been hospitalized in quarantined wards are in stable condition. Most are relatives of the first fatality, a 32-year-old herdsman, according to Xinhua. The second dead man who died Sunday was his neighbor.

Untreated, pneumonic plague spreads easily and is often fatal, but antibiotic treatment within the first 24 hours of symptoms is usually effective, according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms usually include fever, headache, weakness, and rapidly developing shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody sputum, a mixture of mucus and saliva which can be spat from the mouth.