Kazakhstan athletes unsure about participating in Issyk-Kul Sport Games due to plague

Kazakhstan sport delegation hasn't confirmed their participation in the traditional Issyk-Kul Sport Games held in plague-ridden Kyrgyzstan. China has already pulled out from the competition because of the bubonic plague reports, the press-service of the State Agency of Physical Culture and Sport of Kyrgyzstan told Tengrinews.kz. Due to a lethal case of bubonic plague in the Ak-Sui region of Issyk-Kul oblast, the State Agency started to receiving withdrawals from participants of the games. Beside Chinese athletes, Mongolian delegation might also refuse to participate. Meanwhile, the State Agency said that foreign media got inaccurate information about the plague in Kyrgyzstan. Sport officials pointed out that the competition would be held several hundred kilometers away from the emergency zone, and there would be no threat for the athletes. International Issyk-Kul Sport Games are annually held on in early September in the resort town of Cholpon-Ata. Athletes from CIS countries, China and Mongolia usually take part in the tournament. This year the games are held on September 4-12. On August 23 a 15-y.o. boy was hospitalized and then died in Ak-Sui region. Doctors officially confirmed that he died of bubonic plague. He is thought to have become infected after eating a barbecued marmot meat and ofter being bitten by one of its fleas. A state of emergency was declared for the Issyk-Kul region, medical aid posts were set up, and doctors have been checking every family for possible symptoms of the disease. Control on the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was strengthened.