Authorities in China have stepped up precautions after a city in Inner Mongolia confirmed a case of the bubonic plague.
Bayannur city's health committee issued the third-level alert on Sunday - the second lowest level in a four-tier system.
The new case was first reported as suspected bubonic plague on Saturday at a hospital in Urad Middle Banner in Bayannur.
It is not yet clear how or why the patient might have become infected. According to state reports, the patient is in quarantine and in a stable condition.
The level-three alert forbids the hunting or eating of animals that could carry the disease.
It also asks the public to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes, and to report any sick or dead marmots - a known carrier of the plague bacteria.
Sunday's warning follows four reported cases of plague in people from Inner Mongolia last November.
These include two of pneumonic plague, a deadlier variant of the disease.
The bubonic plague, known as the "Black Death" in the Middle Ages, is a highly infectious and often fatal disease that is spread mostly by rodents.
It is caused by bacterial infection, can be deadly, but can be treated with commonly available antibiotics.
Plague cases are not uncommon in China, but outbreaks have become increasingly rare.
From 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths.
Madagascar saw more than 300 cases during an outbreak in 2017.
In May last year, two people in the country of Mongolia died from the plague, which they contracted after eating the raw meat of a marmot.
