Infections of brucella, an animal-borne bacterium causing fever-like symptoms in humans, have been confirmed in a second Chinese province days after around 100 researchers at a state-affiliated veterinary research institute tested positive for antibodies, Sixth Tone’s sister publication The Paper reported Monday.
The new cases — the number of which has not been disclosed — occurred at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, which has several graduate students who previously interned at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, the site of the initial outbreak. Both institutes — located in Heilongjiang and Gansu provinces, respectively — operate under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Heilongjiang’s health commission confirmed the infections of “imported brucellosis” Monday. “The students infected seem to have come from Lanzhou,” one Harbin health official told The Paper.
The Harbin veterinary institute organized health checks for students after the outbreak in Lanzhou, which by Monday had resulted in 96 confirmed cases, though none of the infected individuals have shown clinical symptoms. The total number of infections across both institutes is still being determined, as is their source.
(Image: VCG)
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