Health authorities in Inner Mongolia, China, diagnosed two cases of the bubonic plague, the medieval disease sometimes known as “the black death,” state media confirmed on Sunday.
According to local health officials, the confirmed cases are of a 27-year-old man and his 17-year-old brother, currently being treated at two separate hospitals. The pair are said to have contracted the illness after consuming rodent meat.
On Sunday, the city of Bayannur announced a level three warning of plague prevention and control, now in place through the end of 2020. Local authorities are urging people to take extra precautions to reduce the risk of human-to-human transmission as well as to refrain from hunting or eating rodents liable to cause infection.
