#Mongolian teen dies of bubonic plague after eating infected marmot

A 15-year-old boy has died from the bubonic plague in western Mongolia, health officials said.

The teen caught the often-fatal plague after hunting and eating marmot in Gobi-Altai province, according to Mongolia’s Ministry of Health.

Two other teens were being treated with antibiotics after also consuming the large ground squirrel, which is believed to be a source of the highly infectious disease, officials said.

Symptoms of plague can include sudden fever, chills, headache and nausea — though the illness can be treated with antibiotics if caught early enough, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The government imposed a quarantine in the Tugrug district of the province where the cases detected.

Fifteen other people who had contact with the boy were quarantined and given antibiotics, officials said

The Mongolian government warned the public not to hunt or eat marmots, which are considered to be a delicacy in some regions.

The cases come after a Chinese hospital in the northern region of Inner Mongolia reported a patient was suspected of suffering from the plague.

The US also detected a squirrel that tested positive for the bubonic plague in Colorado.

With Post wires