China has launched a plague outbreak exercise along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to test the country's ability to respond to such disasters.

The scenario for the simulation exercise, which lasted for two hours, was the discovery of a feverish passenger in a train on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway suspected of having plague.

The work staff on the train discovered the case and reported to local health departments, and prevented further transmission of the disease.

The exercise raised awareness about plague prevention and tested the capabilities of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Railways, Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Health said.

The experience also provided a reference for other cities that have a railway service to Tibet so that they can prevent plague being transported along the railway.

Plague is a fatal bacterial disease transmitted by fleas from infected rats and by contact with infected blood or tissue. The most common form, the bubonic plague, results in high fever, delirium and swollen lymph nodes.

Qinghai is one of the provinces that have witnessed human deaths from plague over the past five years.

Experts say that plague, usually carried by marmots in Qinghai and Tibet, could be carried further afield by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The Ministry of Railways has worked out an emergency response plan in the event of an outbreak of plague on the railway.

Plague outbreaks have killed about 200 million people in the past 1,500 years. The most infamous epidemic, Europe's Black Death, which started in 1347, killed 25 million people in Europe and 13 million in the Middle East and China in the space of five years.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2006)