Mongolian Teen Dies of Bubonic Plague
July 16, 2020 9:20AM EDT
UNDATED PHOTO: A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo. The FBI has confirmed that about 30 vials that may contain bacteria that could cause bubonic or pneumonic plague have gone missing, then found, from the Health Sciences Center at Texas Tech University January 15, 2003 in Lubbock, Texas. The plague, considered a likely bioterror agent since it’s easy to make, is easily treatable with antibiotics if diagnosed early and properly. (Photo by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Getty Images)
Just days after a squirrel in Colorado tested positive for the bubonic plague, a 15-year-old boy in Mongolia has died from the disease.
Mongolian health officials say the teen caught the plague from a marmot, which he hunted and ate. Marmots, which are large ground squirrels, have been historically linked to plague outbreaks in the region, according to Ministry of Health official Dori Narangerel.
District officials in the Gobi-Altal province have ordered everyone in the area to quarantine until Saturday. So far, no other cases have surfaced, Narangerel says.
Is the bubonic plague worse than the coronavirus? What’s at the top of your list of things to worry about?
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