NewsDesk @bactiman63

The Mongolia Ministry of Health in Ulaanbaatar posted on their Facebook page Monday (computer translated):

Image/Mongolia MOH

On September 12, 2022, a citizen from Khovd Province, developed symptoms of fever and diarrhea after hunting and cooking marmot with a trap, and went to the provincial health center.

The emergency call team of Khovd province’s HCPC took a sample from the patient and performed laboratory tests. Molecular biology, bacteriological analysis, and clinical and epidemiology tests confirmed that the patient had a severe case of bubonic plague. The Center for the Study of Zoonotic Diseases is working together to respond quickly to outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Therefore, citizens should follow the following recommendations to prevent plague.

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. It is found in animals throughout the world, most commonly rats but other rodents like ground squirrels, prairie dogs, chipmunks, rabbits and marmots in in north-central Asia. Fleas typically serve as the vector for plague.

People can also get infected through direct contact with an infected animal, through inhalation and in the case of pneumonic plague, person to person.