BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - A three-year-old boy in China's south-west Yunnan Province is suspected to have the bubonic plague, according to the Global Times.

The case is the only one detected so far, the paper reported, citing local officials in Menghai county.

The infection was found during a county-wide screening, after three rats were discovered dead for unknown reasons in a village, it said.

Menghai county has started a level IV emergency response to prevent the spread of the disease, according to The Global Times.

In July, China confirmed a case of bubonic plague in the northern province of Inner Mongolia.