Chinese authorities said Tuesday that thousands of people in northwest China tested positive for a bacterial infection after an outbreak in 2019.
The outbreak stemmed from a factory leak at a biopharmaceutical company. The South China Morning Post reports the exhaust fumes from the plant were contaminated.
- According to the health commission of Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, 3,245 people tested positive for the disease brucellosis.
- The commission said 1,401 people tested preliminarily positive.
- No fatalities have been reported.
What is brucellosis?
Brucellosis “is often caused by contact with livestock carrying the bacteria brucella,” according to CNN.
The disease — called Malta fever or Mediterranean fever — can cause headaches, fever, fatigue and nerve pains, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some symptoms of the fever never go away.
Human-to-human transmission can happen. Most infections happen when people eat contaminated food or breathing in the bacteria.