Regional Chinese CDC Calls Plague Info Confidential as Public Suspicions Grow After Suspected Russia Case

A regional Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff member said information about possible plague cases would be confidential and “considered an official secret,” in response to questions about claims of cases occurring in China that have been circulating on social media and causing public concern, after a suspected Russian plague case.

Posts about pneumonic plague cases having appeared in China have been shared widely on social media, after the mysterious death of a young researcher at an anti-plague institute in Siberia. Russian authorities said the researcher died of “pneumonia of unknown origin.”

Among the posts, one made by someone who claims to be a worker at a Chinese P4 laboratory was shared especially widely. It said that two fatal cases of pneumonic plague have occurred in Shanghai and Chongqing, with both patients having arrived from Russia earlier this month.

As such information spreads across social media platforms, it has triggered panic among the Chinese public.

Sun Jingyang, a resident of the Shuangliu District in Chengdu close to Chongqing in southwestern China who used a pseudonym out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times on Oct. 16 that he visited the fever clinic at the Shuangliu Second People’s Hospital on Oct. 11. A doctor at the hospital told him that an individual who had returned to Shuangliu from Russia had fallen ill and subsequently died and that “the case might be related to the plague.”

Sun said the doctor asked whether he had any rashes but did not order any further testing for the plague. He surmised that the doctor was likely evaluating his symptoms to determine whether additional screening for plague was necessary.

Sun also mentioned that he went to a pharmacy to buy a thermometer. “It seems registration is required for such purchases lately,” he said. Shortly after, he received a call from the local CDC asking about his symptoms, Sun said. “Although they didn’t explicitly name it, the questions they asked concerned symptoms that would typically manifest in a case of the plague.”

In light of the information provided by Sun and related social media posts, The Epoch Times contacted the Shuangliu District CDC. A male staff member denied that an investigation into the plague was underway in the area, but acknowledged that telephone-based screening was indeed being conducted primarily to ask whether individuals had a fever.

Regarding whether there have been any plague patients or fatalities in Shuangliu, the staff member stated that the claims circulating online are rumors. However, he said, “If someone contracts the plague, is admitted to a hospital for treatment, or passes away from it, our policy mandates confidentiality—this is considered an official secret, and it is certainly not something that can be disclosed to the public.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Feng, who works in China’s disease prevention and control sector and gave only his last name out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times that “the plague has already been spreading in some parts of China,” and that “the possibility of a pandemic is high.”

Transparency Concerns

The Russian government denied that Shipilova had died of pneumonic plague and said Shipilova’s cause of death was pneumonia of unknown origin.

Russian authorities have not given any additional information about the exact cause of Shipilova’s death as global concerns over plague linger.

“A key uncertainty remains the absence of a confirmed diagnosis in the deceased laboratory worker,” the organization stated.

WHO said that it will continue to monitor the situation and assess any potential public health implications as further information becomes available.

Health authorities in Hong Kong and Macao have also stepped up screening measures of Russian arrivals at airports and entry ports. Health officials in a few regions in China also issued plague prevention alerts and reminders.

China’s National Health Commission issued an internal notice on Oct. 5 to all local health authorities regarding the strict measures to take in plague prevention and control, according to an insider within the Chinese Communist Party.

This undated photo released in 2019 by the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East shows institute workers in a lab. The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East via AP

The drill simulated the response to infectious disease outbreaks, especially imported plague.

Sergey Balakhonov, director of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, also participated in the drill.

The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute has been working with various Chinese institutions on related research for many years.

Due to the lack of transparent information and the experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, some Chinese people have been stocking up on supplies and medicine.

Regarding the Shuangliu CDC staff’s response, U.S.-based China analyst and current affairs commentator Yue Shan told The Epoch Times that officials have indirectly revealed an unwritten rule of the Chinese regime: if an outbreak really occurs, it will be kept secret. In the face of a major epidemic, even a mere rumor could serve as a warning to the public, he said.

“For the public, it is wiser to assume the rumor is true and take proactive precautions—don’t miss the window of opportunity for self-preservation.”

Beijing-based scholar Yang Ming told The Epoch Times that both China and Russia are authoritarian states and have a tendency to conceal information when dealing with unexpected crises—a pattern notably seen in China during the 2003 SARS outbreak and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.

“Having long lived in an environment characterized by a lack of transparent information, the Chinese public tends to distrust official reports. Consequently, any rumors of a new outbreak can rapidly trigger widespread panic,” he said.

Li Jing and Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report.