Focus on Arts and Ecology

 The big environmental stories in the Chinese media this week (11-17 September)

In a front page investigative story, Caixin Media has uncovered the scale of an unusual pollution incident in west China, where thousands of Lanzhou residents were infected with the bacterial disease Brucellosis.
 
The Caixin investigation followed the stunning revelation at the end of last year that a pharmaceutical company producing animal vaccines had accidentally released the bacteria Brucella through its chimneys. It had been using out-of-date disinfectants that failed to eliminate the pathogen. The bacteria, carried on the breeze as aerosols, spread to schools and neighbourhoods downwind of the company, causing people to contract a disease usually transmitted from animals to humans through the consumption of unpasteurised dairy products.
 
The official announcement by authorities on 26 December 2019 only admitted to about 200 infection cases. But Caixin’s probe uncovered at least 3,000 confirmed cases, the majority concentrated in residential neighbourhoods near the factory. Victims experienced joint pain, chronic fatigue, profuse sweating and even miscarriage. According to Caixin, the disease is fairly curable if medical interventions are timely. If not, patients may develop chronic, debilitating conditions, some of which can be lifelong. 
 
The tragedy once again highlights the lack of proper mechanisms to bring justice to pollution victims in China. In the past, victims suffering long-term health impacts from polluting industrial facilities have gone through time-consuming lawsuits only to get minimal compensation. That situation has led some experts to call for an Environment and Health Law that could provide grievance mechanisms for pollution victims.

In the Lanzhou case, affected residents complained to Caixin about inadequate medical attention from hospitals (partly due to stretched resources caused by the coronavirus) and lack of punitive measures against the responsible company – executives were only given warnings, with none officially charged.
 
Read China Dialogue’s recent article about bio-aerosols, which were key to the Brucellosis outbreak in Lanzhou

(Sources: China Dialogue)