Suspected Case of Bubonic Plague Emerges in China's Inner Mongolia

As the coronavirus continues to take the world by storm, health officials are on high alert after a case of the bubonic plague was reported in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

The single suspected case was reported Saturday in a hospital in Bayannur, about 550 miles west of the country’s capital Beijing, according to China’s state-run publication, Xinhua news agency.

In response, health officials are urging locals to continue to protect themselves from the disease’s human-to-human transmission, and to avoid hunting or eating animals that could be infected with the plague-causing bacteria, including marmots, rodents, deer, squirrels and rabbits.

Any unexplained high fever or instances of sick or dead marmots should be reported to local officials immediately.

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