Just a day after a squirrel tested positive for bubonic plague in Colorado, United States, another case of the infection has come to light from western Mongolia.
According to the country’s health ministry, a 15-year-old boy died of bubonic plague after consuming an infected marmot. Currently, two other teenagers who ate the marmot are being treated with antibiotics.
The government has imposed a quarantine on a portion of Gobi-Altai province, where the cases occurred. The health ministry also stated that 15 people who came in contact with the boy who died have been quarantined and are being treated with antibiotics.
The Mongolian government has warned the public against hunting or eating marmots. This infection is often found in marmots, large rodents that live in burrows in North Asian grassland, and some other wild animals in parts of Mongolia, northwestern China and eastern Russia.