Authorities in the Chinese Inner Mongolia region issued a warning after a suspected case of bubonic plague was reported. The suspected case was reported on Saturday in a hospital in Bayannur. The health committee of Bayan Nur, an Inner Mongolia Autonomous city announced a third level alert of plague prevention and control and the warning period will continue till the end of 2020.

The local authority stated that, "Currently, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in the city. The public should take precautionary measures and should follow protection awareness and should report abnormal health conditions immediately" The alert prohibits hunting and eating of animals that could carry plague and the health committee asks the locals to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes, and to report any sick or dead marmots. The bubonic plague is also known as the “Black Death” in the Middle Ages. It is one of the highly infectious and often fatal if not treated in time. The disease is spread mostly by the fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots.

Earlier, China reported the cases of Plague but the outbreak has become increasingly rare. China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths from 2009 to 2018. On July 1st, the state-run Xinhua news agency stated that two suspected cases of bubonic plague reported in Khovd province in western Mongolia. The confirmed cases are a 27-year-old resident and his 17-year-old brother who are being treated at two different hospitals in their province. According to the reports, two of them ate marmot meat and the health officials issued a warning to not to eat marmot eat. According to Narangerel, "More than 140 people who had contact with them have been isolated and treated at local hospitals." Last year, a couple died of bubonic plague in western Mongolian province of Bayan-Ulgii after eating raw marmot meat.

Researchers from China Agricultural University, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and other institutions have identified a genotype 4 (G4) pig flu virus, which is contagious among pigs and has the potential to spread to humans because the G4 virus can bind to human cells. The scientist are worried that it may further mutate so that it can spread easily from person to person and cause a global outbreak. Chinese scientists warned, "Control of the predominant G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially those work in the swine industry should be implemented soon." The new diseases were reported in China grappled with the second attack of coronavirus in Beijing after controlling it in Wuhan where it was first reported in December last year.