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

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

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.

RELATED STORIES