The Bubonic Plague is something that might ring a bell for you, especially regarding your past lessons in world history.
And now it has occurred amidst all the chaos already incurred by COVID-19 in western Mongolia. The casualty is a 15 year old boy who ate a marmot, a land mammal leaving in the plains and deserts in dry climates. It has been officially announced by Dorj Narangerel, spokesperson for Mongolia’s Ministry of Health, that he contracted the fatal (yet outdated in all honesty) virus after hunting for and consuming the rather cute mammal. His death has occurred on Sunday.
The best description for these animals can be put as rodents which live in the ground, a subspecies to squirrels.
Rodents are what have been linked with the Black Death all those time ago back in the Middle Ages, amplified by unhygienic environment and the lack of a proper sewage system. The spread of the virus in this case, therefore, should be considered differently from being a “pandemic” of its own, as the case has occurred in a non-contagious, animal-incited manner.
Nevertheless, the virus is fatally contagious, and the Mongolian government has imposed quarantine measures in the Tugrug district of Gobi-Altai province.
Modern antibiotics can prevent complications and death if administered quickly enough.
Bubonic plague, which is one of plague’s three forms, causes painful, swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, chills and coughing. Mongolia has recorded 692 cases of marmot plague from 1928 to 2018. Of those, 513 died of the disease, equivalent to a mortality rate of just over 74%.
The Russian Embassy in Mongolia cited Sergei Diorditsu, a World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Mongolia, who reportedly said the province sees seasonal outbreaks of the plague, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.
“There are natural foci of plague in Mongolia and the disease is spread by tarbagans (Mongolian marmots),” the embassy said. “The problem is that local residents who, despite all prohibitions and recommendations of local authorities, continue to hunt them and eat them, as this is a local delicacy.
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Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia also confirmed a case of the plague in the city of Bayannur, northwest of Beijing, on July 7, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
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Replaced!