Groundhogs are large ground squirrels, a type of rodent, which have historically been associated with outbreaks of plague in the region.
Evidence confirmed that the teenager had contracted the bubonic plague and the authorities imposed quarantine measures in the Tugrug district of Gobi-Altai province.
The quarantine, which started on Sunday, will run until Saturday, and authorities have already isolated 15 people who came into contact with the teenager. They are all healthy.
Rodents are the main vector of transmission of plague from animals to humans, but the disease can also be transmitted through flea bites or from person to person.
The plague killed some 50 million people in Europe during the Black Death pandemic in the Middle Ages, but modern antibiotics can prevent complications and death if given quickly enough.
Bubonic plague, which is one of the three forms of plague, causes painful and swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, chills, and cough.
Mongolia has recorded 692 groundhog plague cases from 1928 to 2018. Of these, 513 died from the disease, equivalent to a death rate of just over 74%.
Earlier this month, two other people tested positive for bubonic plague in neighboring Khovd province, prompting warnings from officials in nearby Russia.
Officials from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and Food told border citizens not to hunt for groundhogs or eat groundhog meat, and to take preventive measures against insect bites.
The Russian embassy in Mongolia quoted Sergei Diorditsu, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Mongolia, who reportedly said the province sees seasonal outbreaks of the plague, according to the Russian state-run media outlet RIA. Novosti.
“There are natural foci of plague in Mongolia and the disease is transmitted by tarbagans (Mongolian marmots),” the embassy said.
“The problem is that local residents who, despite all the prohibitions and recommendations of local authorities, continue to hunt and eat them, as it is a local delicacy.”
Authorities in China’s Inner Mongolia region also confirmed a case of the plague in the northwestern city of Bayannur on July 7, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
In 2019, a couple in Mongolia died after eating a raw groundhog kidney, sparking a quarantine that left several tourists stranded in the region.
Last week, a squirrel in the US state of Colorado tested positive for the plague.
The United States reports up to a few dozen cases each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Two people died in Colorado from the plague in 2015.
The plague has recently returned, and the World Health Organization has categorized it as a reemerging disease.
According to the WHO, between 1,000 and 2,000 people contract the plague each year, but that estimate does not take into account unreported cases.
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