Now that Nezha 2 is a big hit, you want to get close to groundhogs? Beware of the risk of plague!

Recently, the movie "Nezha: The Devil Boy Conquers the Dragon King" topped the Chinese movie box office charts, and groundhogs became popular as well. Netizens posted videos of their previous "close encounters" with groundhogs, accompanied by the classic line "Still eating? I'm here to take you away."

However, although wild groundhogs are cute, never touch or feed them casually, and don't try to "tame" them like Nezha, as they may be carrying the deadly plague.

Hanging out with groundhogs? No!

The groundhog, also known as the marmot, is the main host animal in the plague epidemic area. It carries the plague, a Class A infectious disease in my country.

Marmot? Groundhog? Can't tell the difference?

There are four types of marmots in my country: the gray marmot, the long-tailed marmot, the Siberian marmot and the Himalayan marmot. Among them, the Himalayan marmot is the most widely distributed and has the largest number, and is very common in popular tourist attractions. The roaring "marmot" that everyone often sees on the Internet is actually the Himalayan marmot.

Himalayan marmot (Photo source: Sichuan CDC)

In addition to the deadly plague bacteria, the Himalayan marmot also carries pathogens such as Brucella, Pasteurella multocida, Enterococcus gallinarum, Helicobacter pylori, Qinghai Himalayan marmot astrovirus, Himalayan marmot bocavirus, Himalayan tick-borne encephalitis virus, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ascaris, Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Enterosporidium bieneusi.

Plague is a natural epidemic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, which is characterized by rapid onset, severe illness, strong infectiousness and high mortality rate.

Once infected, patients may develop sepsis symptoms, including extensive bleeding, ecchymosis, cyanosis, and necrosis of the skin. After death, the body appears purple-black, so plague is also called the "Black Death." In the Middle Ages, this disease swept across Europe, killing more than 20 million people.

If untreated, plague has a mortality rate of 30% to 100%. Antibiotics are now available that can effectively treat plague, and early use can greatly reduce the mortality rate.

How is plague spread?

▲Source of infection

Plague circulates mainly among rodents, forming natural foci.

1. Plague-infected animals

The main source of infection is rodents, such as rats, marmots, etc.

2. Plague patients

Humans can develop primary pneumonic plague by contact with infected animals with lung infection or by direct respiratory infection. Patients with pneumonic plague are contagious in the early stages of the disease.

Patients with septicemic plague and bubonic plague with ruptured glandular tumors can also serve as sources of infection.

Asymptomatic infected people are not contagious.

▲Route of infection

1. Vector transmission: mainly transmitted through fleas sucking blood.

Image source: Shenzhen Health Commission

2. Transmission through contact: When humans directly contact infected animals through hunting, slaughtering, skinning and eating meat, the bacteria enter the human body through wounds on the hands and cause bubonic plague or septicemic plague through the lymphatic vessels or blood.

3. Droplet transmission: The respiratory secretions of patients with pneumonic plague contain a large number of plague bacteria. Patients can expel plague bacteria into the surrounding air through breathing and coughing, forming bacterial particles and aerosols, which can easily infect others.

What are the symptoms of plague infection?

According to its clinical manifestations, plague can be divided into bubonic plague, septicemic plague, pneumonic plague, ocular plague, intestinal plague, cutaneous plague, and meningeal plague.

All types of plague can lead to death if not treated promptly.

Image source: Shenzhen Health Commission

1. The incubation period of plague is relatively short, generally 1-6 days, mostly 2-3 days, and in some cases up to 8-9 days.

2. The symptoms of plague patients generally include severe systemic poisoning symptoms, rapid onset, chills and tremors, a sudden rise in body temperature to 39-41°C and continued high fever, severe headache, and sometimes vomiting, dizziness, rapid breathing, tachycardia, and a decrease in blood pressure.

3. Severely ill patients will show symptoms of confusion, drowsiness, mania, delirium, facial flushing or pallor, and the patient's eyelid conjunctiva and bulbar conjunctiva will be congested, resulting in the so-called "plague look".

How to prevent plague?

Dead rats, suspected plague patients, patients with unexplained high fever, and sudden death should be reported promptly.

The residence and surrounding environment should be kept clean and tidy, cats should be kept in cages, dogs should be kept on leashes, and flea control should be carried out regularly.

Patients should be treated on the spot to ensure timely care.

Do not touch, skin, eat or carry rats, hares, foxes, wolves, stray dogs, stray cats, gazelles, marmots and other animals.

Do not rest in the wild, especially around the burrows of animals such as rodents (including marmots) and hares, and do not dig animal burrows.

Do not contact patients who are dying suddenly, patients suspected of having plague, or patients confirmed to have plague.

Keke reminds: If you encounter a marmot while traveling or in a zoo, be sure to keep a safe distance, do not get close to it, and do not feed it~