Russian authorities are responding to an incident in which a potentially dangerous infection was released following a laboratory accident in Siberia and a researcher died.
The incident took place at the Shelekhov Anti-Plague Research Institute near Irkutsk, according to Russian state media TASS.
It is unclear what was released, according to the state infectious diseases agency, Rospotrebnadzor. One person – a laboratory worker – is believed to have died in the incident after being diagnosed with pneumonia of “unknown” origin.
“The sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov, is stable,” Rospotrebnadzor said.
Special measures were taken “in connection with the case of an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute,” Rospotrebnadzor said, adding that the employee was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology or cause.”
The head of the neighboring republic of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov, said earlier that the employee – a 28-year-old woman – had died “perhaps from the plague”. He also noted that “there is no plague epidemic” in Buryatia.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev called for calm on Friday, saying an extraordinary meeting of the regional anti-epidemic commission had taken place with Russia’s chief state doctor.
The meeting was linked to a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection affecting a resident of the region,” Kobzev said on Telegram.
An aluminum plant near the lab asked staff to wear masks as a precaution. The director of the Irkutsk aluminum plant, Artem Fominikh, also called for calm and noted that “many rumors and contradictory reports are circulating.”
“All identified close contacts are under medical supervision. At present, they do not show any signs of the disease and their laboratory test results are negative,” Fominikh said.
Unofficial reports, notably by the independent regional newspaper Liudi Baikala, claim that nearly 200 people were placed under observation at Chelekhov hospital where the laboratory technician was transported.
Quarantine was also imposed in at least one of the city’s maternity wards, according to Liudi Baikala.
The infection in the Irkutsk region is “most likely not the plague, but even if it is confirmed, there will be no spread of this disease,” said former head of Rospotrebnadzor Gennady Onishchenko., said Friday.
Onishchenko told the official TASS news agency that the onset of cold weather would likely prevent transmission.
Pneumonic plague is one of three types of plagues caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. The other two types are usually spread through contact with fleas, animals, or infected tissues. But pneumonic plague, or pneumonic plague, can easily spread from person to person through respiratory particles.
Patients with pneumonic plague develop fever, headache, weakness and “rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough and sometimes bloody or watery mucous membranes,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The World Health Organization has noted that plague has a high mortality rate, but it is also easily treated with antibiotics and taking precautions to prevent infections.
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