Mongolian teen dies of bubonic plague

A 15-year-old boy in western Mongolia has died of bubonic plague, the country’s national news agency reported.

The health ministry said laboratory tests confirmed the teenager died of plague that he contracted from an infected marmot, according to the Montsame News Agency.

The case prompted the government to impose a quarantine on a portion of the province of Gobi-altai. Montsame said 15 people who had contact with the boy were isolated.

In an unrelated case in neighbouring China, a patient with plague in the northern region of Inner Mongolia is improving, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua said 15 people who had close contact with the patient were released from quarantine on Sunday.