Authorities in China have stepped up precautions after a city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region confirmed one case of bubonic plague.

According to state reports, the Bayannur patient – a herdsman – is in quarantine and in a stable condition.

Officials issued a Level 3 warning, the second-lowest in a four-tier system.

The bubonic plague, caused by bacterial infection, can be deadly, but can be treated with commonly available antibiotics.

The new case was first reported as suspected bubonic plague on Saturday at a hospital in Urad Middle Banner, in Bayannur city.

It is not yet clear how or why the patient might have become infected.

The level 3 alert forbids the hunting and eating of animals that could carry plague and calls on the public to report suspected cases.

Cases of bubonic plague are periodically reported around the world.

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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 – a type of rodent.

A World Health Organization official in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, had told the BBC that raw marmot meat and kidney was thought to be a folk remedy for good health.

Read more: BBC