Russian lab worker dies of suspected plague in Siberia; American surveillance case | Health news

A Russian agency associates the death of the laboratory employee with “pneumonia of unknown origin”.

An employee of a Russian plague research institute in the remote Siberian region of Irkutsk has died of a suspected pneumonic plague infection, regional officials said, even as dozens of others were placed in quarantine.

Alexei Tsydenov, governor of the Buryatia region, said in a message on his Telegram channel on Saturday that a woman from the neighboring Irkutsk region had “died, perhaps from the plague”.

Tsydenov, however, tried to reassure locals by insisting that Russian authorities had confirmed that the woman had not traveled to Buryatia.

Russia’s official TASS news agency reported Sunday that the country’s consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement that an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.”

The watchdog also said it had expanded testing of samples taken from the patient and found no microorganisms associated with her professional activities. According to media reports, authorities in Irkutsk, Siberia, have placed nearly 200 people under medical observation.

The US State Department, in a statement to Al Jazeera, said Washington was “monitoring the situation closely with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and our other interagency partners.”

“We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly,” the State Department official said in the statement.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, commonly found in small mammals and their fleas. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), plague is highly contagious and can be fatal if not treated promptly.

Local media identified the deceased woman as Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory technician.