(CNN) - Authorities in China's Inner Mongolia region have closed several tourist spots after a bubonic plague case was confirmed this week.
The case was discovered in Bayannur, located northwest of the capital, Beijing. According to the state news agency Xinhua, five nearby grassland scenic spots have now been closed, and visitors "are strictly prohibited from entering the affected area and visiting the surrounding region."
MIRA: It is highly unlikely there will be a "massive outbreak" of bubonic plague, says expert
Inner Mongolian authorities are also implementing stricter management of other grassland tourist sites to ensure that visitors do not feed or touch wild animals, and to decrease the population of rodents or fleas that can transmit disease, according to the Xinhua report. .
Bayannur hospital authorities first alerted city officials to the alleged case on Saturday. The city was placed under a Level 3 pest prevention warning, the second lowest in a four-tier system, on Sunday.
Doctors officially diagnosed the case as bubonic plague on Tuesday. The patient is being isolated and treated at the hospital, and is in stable condition, Xinhua reported.
LOOK: What is bubonic plague and why is it an alert?
The plague, caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals, is known to cause the deadliest pandemic in human history: the Black Death, which killed some 50 million people in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Bubonic plague, which is one of the three forms of plague, causes painful and swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, chills, and cough.
Scientists and experts warned the public not to panic at the new cases: the plague has never really disappeared, and modern antibiotics can prevent complications and death if given quickly enough.
The World Health Organization is monitoring the situation in association with the Chinese and Mongolian authorities, according to the state newspaper China Daily.
Bayannur health authorities have warned the public to report findings of dead or diseased groundhogs, and not to hunt, peel, or eat them.
Groundhogs are a type of large ground squirrel that is eaten in parts of China and neighboring Mongolia, and which have historically caused outbreaks of plague in the region.
The consumption of groundhog meat or organs has been linked to a handful of other recent cases of bubonic plague across the Chinese border in neighboring Mongolia: two cases were confirmed last week and one suspicious case was reported on Monday.
These cases prompted authorities in Russia, which borders Mongolia, to warn residents in the border area not to hunt or eat groundhog meat, and to take preventive measures against insect bites.
The Russian embassy in Mongolia said "there is no reason to be seriously concerned" as the Mongolian authorities have imposed travel restrictions and have isolated infected people, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
LOOK: Carriers of the bubonic plague are getting closer to humans, says expert
The embassy also cited Sergei Diorditsu, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Mongolia, who reportedly said the province sees seasonal outbreaks of the plague, according to RIA Novosti.
"There are natural sources (the bacterium, an animal reservoir and a vector) of plague in Mongolia and the disease is transmitted by tarbagans (Mongolian marmots)," the embassy said.
"The problem is that local residents who, despite all the prohibitions and recommendations of local authorities, continue to hunt and eat them, as it is a local delicacy."
bubonic plague black plague