A 28-year-old laboratory worker at an anti-plague institute in Siberia has died, and Russian authorities have placed nearly 200 people under medical observation, though no official has confirmed plague.
The woman worked at the Irkutsk anti-plague institute and died last week in a hospital in Shelekhov, according to Russian media reports. Those reports say she entered the hospital with severe pneumonia on September 29. Russian media also say she broke a test tube holding live plague bacteria on September 25. Officials have not confirmed that account.
Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s public health agency, said she died of pneumonia of unknown cause and that testing found no microorganisms tied to her laboratory work. It called the situation in Irkutsk and Shelekhov stable.
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Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev referred only to a suspected “particularly dangerous infection.” He said those under observation showed no signs of illness and tested negative. Rospotrebnadzor chief Anna Popova flew to Irkutsk to coordinate the response, and several Irkutsk hospitals went into quarantine for three weeks.
Epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko sought to reassure residents, noting that animals that spread plague usually go dormant in Siberia by early October.
A State Department official said the US is monitoring the reports with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that many details have not been confirmed. The official urged Moscow to share accurate information quickly. A Trump administration official said the administration is aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options.
The CDC says antibiotics can treat pneumonic plague, especially when treatment starts early.
