Local health authorities in China’s Inner Mongolia region have confirmed a suspected positive case of bubonic plague, which has persisted centuries after it caused the deadliest pandemic in human history. According to China’s news agency, the Bayannur city health commission confirmed that the plague was diagnosed in the herdsman, and he was in stable condition undergoing treatment at a hospital. Local authorities had also issued a third-level alert the second-lowest in a four-level system, warning people against hunting, eating, or transporting potentially infected animals, particularly marmots, and to report any dead or diseased rodents. Residents are being warned not to hunt, eat or transport potentially infected animals, especially marmots, which are known to carry plague in the area. People should also notify authorities if they find any dead or visibly diseased rodents. In addition, to prevent person-to-person transmission of the disease, people should avoid going to crowded places; and the public should report any suspected human cases of plague, the statement said. Bubonic plague, caused by bacterial infection, was responsible for one of the deadliest epidemics in human history – the Black Death – which killed about 50 million people across Africa, Asia and Europe in the 14th Century. There have been a handful of large outbreaks since. It killed about a fifth of London’s population during the Great Plague of 1665, while more than 12 million died in outbreaks during the 19th Century in China and India.