Plague in China
From 2019 to 2025, China reported 19 lab-confirmed human plague cases and 7 deaths to the World Health Organization. In 2025: 0 confirmed, 0 deaths.
Confirmed cases by year
- Suspected cases, 2019–2025
- 19
- Lab-confirmed
- 19
- Probable
- 0
- Deaths
- 7
Year by year
| Year | Suspected | Confirmed | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2023 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
"Suspected" includes probable and confirmed cases. WHO counts deaths among all suspected cases.
Which form of plague
All plague is the same bacterium. What differs is where it attacks the body. How the forms differ
| Form | Cases | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Bubonic | 9 | 1 |
| Pneumonic | 6 | 3 |
| Septicemic | 3 | 2 |
| Other | 1 | 1 |
2019–2025, confirmed cases. Source: WHO, Human plague, 2019 to 2025 (Table 11).
October 2026: the Irkutsk death in Russia
No plague cases linked to the death of a lab worker in Irkutsk, Russia have been reported in China. News reports say border areas near Russia increased health screening and called the risk low. WHO advises no travel or trade restrictions. Russia plague update
What WHO says about China
- All of China's reported cases were lab-confirmed, so WHO counts them as both suspected and confirmed.
- China reported between zero and five confirmed cases a year.