The boy, living in a remote shepherds' community in south Siberia's Tuva Republic, brought the rodent home in his hat. His grandfather immediately killed the animal, and called a doctor.
The teenager "came into immediate contact with a long-tailed ground squirrel infected with the plague. His state of health is satisfactory. He is undergoing prophylactic treatment," Gennady Onishchenko told RIA Novosti.
The area has been thoroughly disinfected, and medics from the regional plague prevention center are carrying out anti-epidemic measures in the area.
Plague, caused by the yersinia pestis bacterium, can be transmitted from rodents to humans via fleas. Bubonic plague is now extremely rare in industrialized countries, and can be treated with antibiotics.
