Following the death of a teenage boy in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia in July, an alert was sounded for the incidence of bubonic plague in the district. Recently, in nearby Baotou, a man died of multiple organ failure from the same disease, according to a Science Times report.

The bubonic plague is caused by a bacterial infection and can be deadly if not treated. Fleas and ticks act as carriers for the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which does not harm the host, but becomes deadly when the tiny vectors infect rodents.

Local authorities have imposed quarantine in the deceased’s village of Suji Xincu, and have initiated a comprehensive epidemiological investigation on the district where the man contracted the infection.

According to the WHO, the situation is being well managed by local authorities.

The Mongolian Health Ministry has imposed lockdown on five other districts as well. It is suspected that the disease-causing marmots belong to the large rodent population in the nearby Altai Mountain, which stretches across the four countries of Mongolia, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Senior official Dorj Narangerel said, “We urge you to pay special attention to the fact that the pulmonary form of the disease is just as rapid as the coronavirus infection - but it is a disease that can kill people very quickly.”

(With inputs from The Science Times)