China welcomes arrival of 14th century Europe.

Well, their diseases anyway. Yes it seems that a tiny town in rural China has been hit by an outbreak of pneumonic plague. Yes, a version of the plague that leveled Europe in the 1300s. Yes, apparently you can still catch that.

An outbreak of pneumonic plague has killed two people in China and forced the lockdown of a remote town of 10,000 to halt the further spread of one of the world’s deadliest and most contagious diseases. The first victim, a 32-year-old herdsman, fell ill a day after burying his dog, which had died suddenly. Two days later the man was dead and friends and relatives attended his funeral in the ethnically Tibetan region of Ziketan in western Qinghai province. Of those mourners, 11 soon fell ill. One man, 37-year-old Danzin, a neighbour of the first victim, died on Sunday. Investigating the disease that had infected so many people so quickly, medical authorities soon established that all were infected with pneumonic plague. Those infected were undergoing treatment in isolation in a local Tibetan hospital while all 10,000 residents of Ziketan were placed in quarantine to try to halt the spread of one of the deadliest diseases in history. Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is caused by the same bacteria that occurs in bubonic plague — the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages. The WHO said that it was not unduly concerned by the outbreak. Beijing-based spokeswoman Vivian Tan said: “This is not new. There have been
sporadic cases reported over the years. We're not surprised that it's come up. We're in constant contact with the authorities to make sure things are under control." [Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/].

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. It is SUPER weird that China would seem unconcerned about Tebetans dying of the plague. If you were wondering why the WHO is unconcerned, there are actually cures for the plague (Americans in the Midwest contract it fairly often from their cats who contract it from Prairie dogs). It’s very treatable these days as we’ve had 700 years to develop medicines. If you’re wondering why China isn’t using the cure to treat more of these villagers in a timelier fashion, I remind you the diseased are Tibetans. If you don’t know what that statement means or what I meant by the beginning of this paragraph, email Richard Gere, I’ve got shit to do.