Bubonic Plague Found in a Herder in Inner Mongolia, China Says

A herdsman in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia was confirmed to be infected with bubonic plague, health officials said, a reminder of how even as the world battles a pandemic caused by a novel virus, old threats remain.

The disease, which caused the Black Death in the Middle Ages, is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and is transmitted by fleas that become infected by rodents. In Inner Mongolia, the host is often marmots that live in rural areas.

In November, Beijing officials said two people from Inner Mongolia were found to have pneumonic plague, another form of plague caused by the same bacterium. Pneumonic plague is the only form that can be transmitted person to person, through respiratory droplets.

If not treated, pneumonic plague is invariably fatal, while bubonic plague is fatal in about 30 percent to 60 percent of untreated cases, the World Health Organization says. Antibiotics can cure the disease if delivered early.

The neighboring country of Mongolia was also investigating a suspected case of bubonic plague involving a 15-year-old, who had apparently been in contact with a marmot hunted by a dog, The Global Times said on Twitter. On Monday, Mongolia announced that it had lifted restrictions in Khovd Province after two cases of bubonic plague linked to the consumption of marmot meat were reported a week ago. Health officials said the patients’ conditions had improved, the Ikon.mn news site reported.