Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Photo: Zhao Yusha/GT
 

Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Photo: Zhao Yusha/GT

Two patients in a Beijing medical facility were confirmed infected with plague, the health authorities said, and the facility has taken prevention and control measures to contain its spread. 

The medical facility in Chaoyang district in the capital city accepted two patients from Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia recently and diagnosed them as having pneumonic plague on Tuesday, the health commission from Xilin Gol League and Beijing's Chaoyang district jointly confirmed on Tuesday night, after rumors of those two patients caused panic in the capital. 

The health commissions said they have taken prevention and control measures.

Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Photo: Zhao Yusha/GT

Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, once one of the busiest in the capital, was found with virtually no patient in sight on Tuesday night, after two patients infected with plague were reportedly hospitalized there. 

The emergency room of the hospital was closed for patients Tuesday afternoon due to a "special situation," a nurse from the hospital told the Global Times on Tuesday night, who declined to reveal details. 

Only a pregnant woman who is due to deliver at the hospital was admitted into the emergency room of the hospital midnight, the nurse said.  

Beijing has been monitoring plague for years and found no case of a mouse bringing Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague. 

The plague is a bacterial disease that is spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots. An adult can be killed by the disease in less than 24 hours if not treated in time, according to the World Health Organization.

According to the statistics from the National Health Commission, there have been occasional cases of plague in China in recent years. In 2014, 2016 and 2017, there were 3, 1 and 1 cases, respectively, of plague infection and death. The cause of infection and transmission route were not disclosed.

A 38-year-old man in Northwest China's Gansu Province died of pneumonic plague in 2014. More than 150 people who were in contact with the man were quarantined back then, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The plague is rapid at the onset, short in duration, high in mortality, strong in infectivity and rapid in spread. In particular, septicemic and pneumonic plague, if untreated, has a fatality rate of 30 to 100 percent. Plague was infamous for killing millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages. 

Today, modern antibiotics are effective in treating plague. Without prompt treatment, the disease can cause serious illness or death.