China confirms fourth plague case

A fourth person in northern China has been diagnosed with the plague this month, officials confirmed, as a flea and rat eradication campaign was carried out by local government.

The Ulanqab government in central Inner Mongolia said on Wednesday that a herder who had been diagnosed with bubonic plague was currently being treated in isolation and was in a stable condition.

Another person was diagnosed with bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia's Xilin Gol league on November 16, more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) away.

And in mid-November two patients from Inner Mongolia were moved to Beijing for treatment of the highly-contagious pneumonic strain of the plague.

The pneumonic strain can prove fatal in 24 to 72 hours and is the "most virulent form" of the disease according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), while the bubonic form is less dangerous.

The Ulanqab government said earlier that it had sprayed almost 200 acres of land last week as part of "rat- and flea-extermination work."