Pikas are cute and you want to pet them? But they might kill you

In the past two days, a group of travel photos on a social platform attracted a lot of attention.

At first glance, the cute little animal in the picture seems to be living in harmony with humans. It is a pika. The pika has round ears and looks like a rabbit, but its body and demeanor are very similar to those of a mouse. Many netizens left comments under this group of photos, saying that they also want to catch one.

However, despite its cute appearance, there may be a death lurking behind it. This death is called plague.

A village shrouded in doom

Let us go back to the summer of 1962. A large tabby cat in the Guo family, who lived in Huining County, Gansu Province, suddenly died.

The cat has been with the family for three or four years. Its fur is sleek and beautiful. What makes the Guo family proud is that this big tabby cat is a first-class mouse-catching cat. Yellow rats are a big problem on the Gansu Plateau, and the big tabby cat often catches rats that sneak into their home to steal food.

People were saddened by Lihua's death, but in Gansu at that time, supplies were scarce and life was difficult. Guo Quande, the head of the Guo family, saw that the cat skin was still intact, so he tanned it and planned to make a hat for his daughter.

Just three days later, Guo Quande woke up with a splitting headache, a severe cough, and unbearable pain. He felt difficulty breathing and tried hard to breathe into his lungs, but at this time, his lungs were filled with phlegm and he could not breathe smoothly. Soon, Guo Quande died.

At his simple funeral, his children, relatives and neighbors gathered. But misfortune enveloped the participants of this funeral. Soon, they all developed the same symptoms: Guo Quande's wife, 58 years old, fell ill three days after the funeral; his daughter, 17 years old, fell ill four days after the funeral; his son, 42 years old, fell ill five days later. The three members of this family all died on the same day, that is, seven days after the funeral.

Soon after, his daughter-in-law, in-laws, other relatives, including neighbors, doctors who had taken care of them, and friends who had seen him off, also fell ill one after another. In just half a month, more than a dozen people had died. The whole village was in a panic, and everyone stayed indoors, fearing that they would be taken away by this disaster.

This is not a horror story, but a real epidemiological case that occurred in Gansu, recorded in "Examples of Epidemiological Research" edited by Professor Qian Yuping, the founder of Chinese epidemiology.

On August 9, 1962, the mass death case in Huining County was reported to the Ministry of Health. Experts highly suspected that it was an outbreak of plague, so the state convened a team of experts to rush to Huining County.

The investigation team carried simple and basic protective materials and conducted investigations in two groups. Professor Qian Yuping personally led a group to the source of the disease, Guo Quande's home. Through the cat skin found at the scene and the examination of the patient's body, experts quickly confirmed that this was an epidemic caused by pneumonic plague.

Experts have mapped out the disease's path for us: the county is located on the Loess Plateau, where the Alashan yellow rats breed and explode in June every year, and the number of rat lice on their bodies also increases significantly. Rat lice carry plague bacteria, which can be transmitted to humans through cats or foxes, thus causing disasters. The misfortune of this village is just a microcosm of the plague, which has a great reputation in history.

Plague, a global disaster

Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, and rodents are the main hosts. Medium-sized carnivores such as coyotes and wild cats may also be infected by preying on rodents or coming into contact with fleas.

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There are three types of plague: bubonic plague, septicemic plague and pneumonic plague, each with different symptoms.

All three types of plague will cause fever in the early stages, as well as systemic symptoms such as chills, headache, fatigue, general malaise, weakness and muscle aches. The difference is that the outcomes of the three types of plague may be slightly different:

In Guo Quande's case, the patient had pneumonic plague, which progresses very quickly, with symptoms that may begin within hours of exposure and rapidly worsen. If not treated promptly, lung function can quickly fail, leading to shock and even death.

Bubonic plague causes swollen lymph nodes, which may be located in the armpits, groin, or neck. The swollen lymph nodes may be tender or painful.

Septicemic plague is caused by plague bacteria multiplying in the bloodstream, and late symptoms may include bleeding, shock, and tissue necrosis.

The Black Death, a catastrophic plague that swept across Europe in the mid-14th century, also originated from this. Patients developed dark tumors and spots on their bodies and then died. The Black Death arrived at European trading ports in 1346, with a peak between 1347 and 1351. The mortality rate of the disease was extremely high, with the death toll in Eurasia ranging from 75 million to 200 million. The population was greatly reduced.

Catch pikas by hand, don't do this

Nowadays, there are indeed many people traveling to the grasslands. Some tourists may interact and take photos with local wild animals for fun or to attract traffic. In addition to the pika mentioned above, marmots are also famous "scenic spot internet celebrities". But this operation really has a lot of risks. Because rodents in the wild are often covered with fleas, if you get close to them, the fleas have a chance to jump onto people, and after biting, they may spread Yersinia pestis and cause illness.

Many wild animals are common hosts of plague.

Human activities in the epidemic source area caused human plague due to active contact with infected animals. For example, in Gansu mentioned above, and in the Qilian Mountains-Altun Mountains area, human plague occurred from time to time.

The Himalayan marmots, giant hamsters, short-tailed Tibetan hamsters, big-eared pikas and other rodents in the Gannan Plateau are common hosts of plague. There are occasional reports of plague caused by playing with pikas.

So, if we see this kind of wild animal, we should stay away from it.

Keeping distance is both respect and protection

Under normal circumstances, wild animals are very wary of their surroundings and will not actively contact humans. It is very important to always keep a safe distance from all wild animals. People interacting with and feeding wild animals can bring danger to the animals. For example, inappropriate food can cause wild animals to become sick or die after ingesting it. More importantly, keeping a distance is also a protection for humans.

References

[1] Qian Yuping, Li Liming, Examples of Epidemiological Research (Volume 3), People's Medical Publishing House. [P] 1~8.

[2] https://www.mayoclinic.org/zh-hans/diseases-conditions/plague/symptoms-causes/syc-20351291

[3] https://zh.unesco.org/silkroad/content/sichouzhilushangjibingdechuanbo

[4] Xi Jinxiao, Investigation on infection status and genetic evolution of pathogenic Yersinia in main plague host animals in Gansu. Gansu Province, Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020-06-29.

[5] An Junsheng, Li Xujuan, Duan Wenke, et al. Analysis of plague epidemic in Gansu Province[J]. Bulletin of Disease Prevention and Control, 2019, 34(06):36-38+61. DOI:10.13215/j.cnki.jbyfkztb.1905004.

[6] Wei Boqing, Yu Shouhong, Tian Fuzhang, et al. A case of human bubonic plague caused by playing with plateau pikas[J]. Bulletin of Endemic Diseases, 1998(01):28.

[7] Wei Boqing, Yu Shouhong, Tian Fuzhang, et al. A case of human bubonic plague caused by plateau pikas[J]. Chinese Journal of Endemic Disease Control, 1997, 12(5): 301-302.

[8] Wang Dingsheng, Liang Xiaocheng, Liu Guangyu, et al. Epidemiological characteristics of the first case of human plague in Gansu Province[J]. Bulletin of Disease Prevention and Control, 2011, 26(1):41-43.

Planning and production

Author: Chen Mo'ao, Master of Epidemiology and Health Statistics

Reviewer: Zhang Yu, Researcher at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Planning丨Ding Zong

Editor: Cui Yinghao

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