A second man has died of pneumonic plague in a remote part of north-west China where a town of more than 10,000 people has been sealed off.
The 37-year-old victim was a neighbour of the first person to die from the plague, a herdsman aged 32 in Ziketan in Xinghai in Qinghai Province, the BBC reports.
The sparsely populated area is mostly inhabited by Tibetans.
Pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, can spread from person to person or from animals to people.
A spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation, Vivian Tan, said an outbreak such as this was always a concern, but praised the Chinese for reacting quickly and for getting the situation under control.
Local officials in north-western China told the BBC that the situation is under control, and that schools and offices are open as usual.
But to prevent the plague spreading, the authorities have sealed off Ziketan, which has some 10,000 residents.
About 10 other people inside the town have so far contracted the disease, according to state media.
No-one is being allowed leave the area, and the authorities are trying to track down people who had contact with the men who died.
Initial symptoms of pneumonic plague include fever, headache and shortness of breath.
The local health bureau has warned anyone with a cough or fever who has visited the town since mid-July to seek medical treatment.
Health officials in Qinghai have been concerned about pneumonic plague for some time. In February, they said they had sent out 55 teams across the province to help monitor and control the disease.
According to the WHO, pneumonic plague is the most virulent and least common form of plague. It is caused by the same bacteria that occur in bubonic plague - the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.
