Via The Siberian Times, an update on a strange story: Town in Mongolia closed for quarantine after Bubonic plague claimed two lives. Excerpt:
The Mongolian Ministry of Health confirmed two people - a 38 years old man and his pregnant wife, 37 - died from plague after consuming raw meat and internal organs of a marmot. Their deaths left four children as orphans aged from two to 13.
Dramatic pictures have shown at least one aircraft being met by anti-contamination emergency workers in a bid to prevent spread of the disease.
The local town of Ulgii (or Ölgii) on the border with Russia was shut for quarantine by Mongolian health authorities and army.
Several dozen tourists from all over the world had to alter their holiday plans, and are now waiting to hear when they might be allowed to leave the town.
‘Did you think that the plague was something from the Dark Ages? Us too!! We were just about to leave Ulgii to go deeper into Mongolia, but all exits of the town were shut and we were not allowed to leave. Half of the city is closed due to some plague-contaminated marmots!’ wrote traveler Elena Koneva from Kemerovo who is marooned on the border with her husband Timur.
‘This is just so surreal!’
With a big group of fellow travellers from the US, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea and Germany, the Russians were besieging the authorities, desperate to leave the town.
The tragic family that died from plague got infected after eating raw kidneys of a marmot.
An old Mongolian tradition says that a raw meat and internal organs of freshly killed marmot strengthens health, local media reported.
The Mongolian Ministry of Health stressed they did not think that the situation with the plague was critical or anywhere near epidemic.
Yet there was no deadline announced for the quarantine which in the worst case scenario can last as long as 21 days.
‘We were told to wait for updates on Monday, 6 May’, tourist Timur Konev said.
