--- title: "Thousands Infected by Bacteria After Leak at Chinese Pharmaceutical Factory" description: "Thousands of people in northwest China have caught a bacterial disease after a leak caused an outbreak at a biopharmaceutical last year, CNN reports." date: "2020-09-17" modified: "2020-09-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/thousands-infected-by-bacteria-after-leak-at-chinese-pharmaceutical-factory" categories: - "Bacteria" - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" tags: - "antibacterial" - "bacteria" - "china" --- # Thousands Infected by Bacteria After Leak at Chinese Pharmaceutical Factory ![Thousands of people in northwest China have caught a bacterial disease after a leak caused an outbreak at a biopharmaceutical last year, CNN reports.]() *\Image: Pixnio\* Thousands of people in northwest China have caught a bacterial disease after a leak caused an outbreak at a biopharmaceutical last year, [*CNN* reports](). According to [local media reports](), more than 3,000 people in the capital of Gansu province contracted brucellosis, a disease that's usually associated with brucella bacteria-carrying livestock. Brucellosis is also known as Malta or Mediterranean fever and can be caught by eating contaminated food or breathing in the bacteria. Symptoms include headaches, muscle pain, fever, and fatigue. Some symptoms may stick around "for longer periods of time," [according to the CDC](). "Others may never go away or reoccur." The bacteria's infection profile is extremely different from COVID, which also appears to have emerged out of China last year. Brucella is a bacteria rather than a virus, it's seldom deadly, and almost never spreads between people. And fortunately, no fatalities have been reported during this outbreak. The US has experienced its own bouts of brucellosis, costing the livestock industry [billions of dollars]() to eradicate it from cattle, particularly bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area. According to local authorities in Lanzhou, workers at the factory failed to disinfect waste gas, with wind carrying it down to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, where the outbreak was first reported in November. At least 181 people at the institute caught the bug early on, [according to state news site *Xinhua*](). Authorities revoked licenses to produce the vaccines, including product approvals for two brucellosis vaccines, at the plant in January, *CNN* reports. The eight people deemed responsible for the event were "severely punished," according to a public apology issued by the factory. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()