Fifteen-year old livestock herder Temirbek Isakunov's death on Monday has been said to have been caused by the bubonic plague, the Huffington Post reports, prompting rural Kyrgyzstan to quarantine the region.
While some news sources claim that Isakunov, who hails from a small village in the eastern region of the country, obtained the plague through a flea bite, another source reported that the teen boy fell ill after eating a barbequed marmot while visiting relatives in the south.
Three other people from the same village have contracted the deadly plague since his death, according to AFP, and 131 people are currently in quarantine, including the doctors and medical staff who treated the boy.
"Residents of Sary-Kamysh...came to the hospital at 12:30 am," the local emergency ministry told AFP. "They are now under medical care." A woman, toddler and a teenager who all "had contact with the deceased 15-year old" have all shown symptoms of swollen nymph nodes and high fevers, according to an anonymous government source, though the health ministry has denied these allegations.
So far, officials have subjected close to 2,000 people to mandatory testing to make sure they have not contracted the deadly disease.
Known for decimating most of Europe in the 14th century (known as the Black Death) in an outbreak that killed an estimated 25 million people, the bubonic plague is a bacterial infection that kills about two thirds of infected humans within 4 days, its tell-tale symptoms including the painful swelling of lymph nodes (known as buboes), primarily around the armpit and groin regions of the sick. If drugs are administered within 24 hours, a person can be cured, but doctors must take action quickly to prevent the spread of the disease.
In order to prevent against a possible outbreak of the illness that is primarily transmited through fleas on small rodents, Kyrgyzstan's neighbor Kazakhstan has tightened their border controls. The country has warned its citizens against visiting Kyrgyzstan "until the epidemiological situation regarding the plague is stabilized," AFP reports.
