One hundred and fifty-one people are in quarantine in Northwest China's Gansu province after a man died from a form of plague, the local government announced on Thursday.

The man, from Jiuquan, was confirmed dead on Wednesday. The health authorities said his death was caused by pestis, a kind of infectious plague, according to a statement released by the publicity department of the Jiuquan city government.

The people in quarantine all had close contact with the deceased man, and all have been treated with precautionary measures, the statement said.

To prevent any further spread, the local government has set up four quarantine sectors in the city. A team of medical experts has been dispatched from Beijing to guide the prevention.

A report on news website thepaper.cn quoted the local disease prevention center as saying the man contracted the disease after eating a marmot, but that has not been confirmed by the city's publicity department.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn