The culprit is privately owned Changsheng Life Sciences based in Changchun in Northeast China, owned by a mysterious female tycoon. Just last summer, the same producer was raided by local police and fined 3.4 million yuan ($500,000) for tainted DPT vaccine (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) dosed to children in Shantung Province.

The public outcry over a WeChat post that disclosed the defective vaccine scandal (and then was quickly removed) interrupted President Xi Jinping's visit to Rwanda's genocide memorial, prompting him to make a hot call to Beijing with a promise action to address the homegrown killing fields. His gesture led to local police arresting 15 Changsheng executives and managers, including the board chairwoman Junfang Gao (net worth $1 billion). Then came the official claim that no affected children were exposed to the rabies vaccine before its recall.