One Teenage Boy Suspected of Plague Dies in Mongolia

▲Gobi Altai region in western Mongolia where a suspected plague patient has been reported

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] One person suspected of being infected with the high-risk infectious disease plague (Yersinia pestis) has died in Mongolia.

According to Chinese media including Xinhua News Agency on the 13th, Mongolian authorities held a press conference the day before and announced, "A 15-year-old boy suspected of being infected with the plague died in the western Gobi-Altai region."

The boy reportedly showed symptoms suspected of plague after hunting and eating a marmot, a type of squirrel and rodent. Authorities transported samples from this patient by air to the capital Ulaanbaatar to confirm whether the plague was the cause of death.

Authorities stated, "A state of emergency has been declared in five counties near the patient’s area, and citizens and vehicle traffic have been prohibited."

Earlier, in the Khovd region of Mongolia, brothers who ate illegally hunted marmots were confirmed to have plague on the 1st of this month.

Subsequently, on the 6th in the Bayankhongor region, a 15-year-old patient who had contact with a marmot brought by a dog was reported as a suspected plague case.

Currently, since the areas in Mongolia where confirmed and suspected plague patients have appeared are adjacent, there are concerns that the plague bacteria may be spreading in these areas.

Meanwhile, in Bayan Nur City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China, where a herder was confirmed with bubonic plague on the 5th, all 15 people who had close contact with the patient tested negative.

According to Chinese authorities, three rounds of tests on close contacts all returned negative results, leading to a downgrade of the plague response level and the lifting of quarantine lockdowns in some areas.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that plague is well managed in China and the risk is not high.

WHO said, "We are monitoring the outbreak situation in China and cooperating with Chinese and Mongolian authorities," adding, "Plague is rare and generally found in some areas where it remains endemic."