Bubonic plague: Teenager dies in Mongolia after eating infected marmot

BEIJING: A 15-year-old boy has died in western Mongolia of bubonic plague after eating an infected marmot, the country’s health ministry announced.

Two other teenagers who also ate the marmot were being treated with antibiotics, ministry spokesperson Narangerel Dorj said. The government imposed a quarantine on a portion of Gobi-Altai province, where the cases occurred. The health ministry said 15 people who had contact with the boy who died were quarantined and are receiving antibiotics.

Plague is found in marmots, large rodents that live in burrows in the sprawling North Asian grassland, and some other wild animals in parts of Mongolia, northwestern China and eastern Russia. The Mongolian government warned the public not to hunt or eat marmots.