Teenager Dies Of Bubonic Plague After Eating Infected Barbecued Meat

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Marmot

Wikipedia

A marmot in Russia.

There are fears of a bubonic plague outbreak after a teenage boy in Kyrgyzstan died last week from eating infected barbecued meat, the Guardian reports.

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The meat came from a marmot, a rodent known to be a carrier of the disease.

More than 100 people who came into contact with the 15-year-old have been put into quarantine, the Guardian reports, citing health officials.

This the first case of plague in this region for 30 years, according to the Mirror.

The bubonic plague is caused by a bacteria that lives in the guts of fleas. It can transmitted to humans or rodents through flea bites.

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The plague is believed to have caused the Black Death, which killed about one-third of the European population in the 14th century.