Photo: Screenshot of Beijing News video

Three locations in a city in North China's Inner Mongolia' Autonomous Region were found to have cases of plague virus after a local farmer was confirmed as being infected with the disease and 15 were quarantined for observation, the local health authority said Tuesday.

Medical and disease control experts sent to Urad Middle Banner of Bayannur City found plague bacillus at three locations, including one where the infected patient was found. Previously, four dead rats with the virus were found in the same location on June 18, the China News Service reported Thursday.

The patient was confirmed as having bubonic plague on Sunday and is now in a stable condition.

The level III early warning took effect later on Sunday in the region. Fifteen people who had close contact with the patient have been quarantined at home.

The plague is a severe infectious disease that is highly transmissible and has a high fatality rate. It's a Class A infectious disease, the highest classification under China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

Previously, two patients were confirmed as having plague in nearby Mongolia, and a 15-year-old boy is suspected of infection on Monday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Global Times