Mongolia has quarantined one of their regions that are located next to China after they detected an outbreak that is suspected to be the bubonic plague.
Return of the bubonic plague
The two suspected cases of the bubonic plague have been identified, according to health experts on July 1. The disease is connected to eating marmot meat.
The lab tests of two people in the Khovd region confirmed that they have contracted the illness according to the National Center for Zoonotic Disease of Mongolia or NCZD. The capital in western Mongolia is now placed into quarantine.
According to the local media in Mongolia, cars are prohibited to enter and leave the province temporarily. The NCZD studied samples that they got from 146 residents of the province who had contact with the two people who tested positive.
Aside from the two confirmed cases, around 504 individuals were identified for the second-contact. The bacterial infection can kill people in just 24 hours if it is not treated in time. The reports show that the two victims were a woman, whose age was not stated and a 27-year-old man.
The plague is spread by fleas that are living on rodents like marmots. The news about the disease came after two people died in the province of Bayan-Ulgii in Mongolia back in April 2019. The two, who were a couple, ate raw marmot meat.
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Around 158 people were immediately put under strict quarantine after they came into contact with the couple who died because of the disease.
A 38-year-old man who was named Citizen T died on April 27. He went hunting and ate marmot meat then gave it to his 37-year-old pregnant wife, who then died three days later, according to The Siberian Times. The couple left four children orphaned.
Dr. N. Tsogbadrakh, a top medic, stated that the plague had affected the stomach of the victims after they ate the meat. The plague is caused by the bacteria called Yersinia pestis which is found in small mammals and their fleas.
The same bacteria was connected to the Black Death which killed more than a third of Europe's population back in the 14th century.
What is the bubonic plague?
According to History, the plague is caused by the bite of an infected flea and it can spread through contact with contaminated materials or infectious bodily fluids.
Patients of the plague show signs of nausea and fever, and at an advanced stage the signs may develop to open sores that are filled with pus.
During the Middle Ages, the plague devastated Europe, and in the 1340s the plague killed a third of Europe's population. The plague has vanished from first world countries, and 90% of the cases are now found in Africa. It can be treated with antibiotics as long as it is given immediately to the patients.
There have been a few cases recorded in the United States but they are non-fatal, and according to disease control groups, around 7 people show signs of the plague every year in the country, but it is not clear if medical experts did contact tracing.
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