Woman, 25, infected with 'Black Death' bubonic plague after eating rodent 'delicacy'

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Will Stewart & Sophie Bateman, Reporters - The Daily Star




A 25-year-old woman who ate infected rodent meat in Mongolia has been hospitalised suffering from bubonic plague.

She is currently being held in isolation in Khovd province along with 19 people she contacted.

Another unrelated case in Mongolia's Khentii province is also being checked, say reports.

Separately in China a three-year-old boy in the southwest Yunnan province is feared to have contracted plague, also known as the Black Death.

The Chinese incident emerged after three dead rats were found in a village in Menghai county.

The county has started a level IV emergency response to prevent the spread of the disease, reported Global Times.

Bubonic plague is a bacterial disease spread by fleas living on wild rodents and can kill an adult in less than 24 hours if not treated in time.

The woman's infection in the Altai soum or district of Khovd province in Mongolia was confirmed by lab test results, the country's National Centre for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD) reported.

She was found to have eaten marmot meat last week, said the centre.

Tests are also underway on a suspected sufferer in Khentii province, according to reports.

Hunting marmots is illegal in Mongolia, but many regard the rodent as a delicacy and ignore the law.

This year Mongolia has reported 22 suspected cases, with six confirmed, the highest number in a decade.

Three of the six died, most recently a 38-year-old man in Khovsgol province earlier this month who had eaten an infected marmot.

The two previous deaths this year were a 15-year-old boy in Govi-Altai province in July, and a 42-year-old man in Khovd province in August.



A total of 17 out of all the 21 Mongolian provinces are now at risk of the bubonic plague, the NCZD warned.

People were warned people not to hunt, eat, sell, buy or transport marmots.

Two deaths were also reported this year in China's Inner Mongolia.

Russia has taken major steps to stop a spread of the Black Death across its frontiers with Mongolia and China, as the region also battles against coronavirus.



Tens of thousands of people have been vaccinated in border areas in the Tuva and Altai republics of Siberia.

One outbreak was recorded on the Ukok plateau of the Altai Mountains in Russia – for the first time in more than 60 years.

Up to 200 million people were killed by the Black Death, which was an outbreak of bubonic plague, in the 14th century.

[lost in melb.]

After their failure to take Vienna, Mongols have never been the same

[FBD]

nice marmot!

[Griffin]

new life lesson- Don't eat rodent while visiting Asia.

[deebakes]

good luck with that

[PorkChopSandwiches]