A laboratory worker at a Siberian anti-plague research institute has died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown origin, prompting Russian authorities to quarantine a hospital and place nearly 200 people under medical observation.
The employee, identified by Russian media as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, near the city of Irkutsk, according to regional news outlet Liudi Baikala and The Moscow Times.
Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighbouring republic of Buryatia, said the woman possibly died from plague, though he stressed there were no plague outbreaks in his region.
The case has not been officially confirmed as plague by Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s federal agency for infectious disease control, which described the diagnosis as pneumonia of unknown etiology.
Timeline of Illness
According to reports from Liudi Baikala and other Russian media, Shipilova fell ill after an incident in the laboratory on September 25.
She reportedly told medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples for testing, according to The Moscow Times.
She was hospitalised in Shelekhov on September 29 with symptoms of severe pneumonia and placed on a ventilator.
She died in the early hours of October 2, according to Liudi Baikala.
The hospital where she was treated was placed under quarantine, with laboratory work suspended and admissions and discharges halted in several departments, according to Kommersant.
At least 197 people who may have had contact with Shipilova were placed under medical observation, including more than 100 in hospital wards, The Moscow Times reported.
Quarantine measures were also imposed at a maternity hospital in Shelekhov, according to Liudi Baikala.
Official Response
Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement that the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov is stable.
The agency said special measures had been carried out in connection with the case of an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute.
Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, travelled to Irkutsk to participate in an extraordinary meeting of the regional anti-epidemic commission, according to Kommersant.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said on Telegram that all identified contacts had been placed under medical observation.
He said the contacts showed no signs of illness and their laboratory test results were negative.
Kobzev said the meeting was prompted by a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection affecting a resident of the region.
Maxim Modin, head of the Shelekhovsky district, confirmed the quarantine at the hospital but did not explain the cause, according to Kommersant.
He urged residents not to trust rumours and to use only official sources.
The director of the Irkutsk Aluminium Plant in Shelekhov instructed staff to wear masks as a precaution, according to CNN.
Artem Fominikh, the plant’s director, said there were many rumours and conflicting reports circulating.
Fominikh said all identified close contacts were under medical supervision and showed no signs of disease, with negative laboratory test results.
Conflicting Accounts
Tsydenov, the head of Buryatia, initially said on social media that a woman in the neighbouring Irkutsk region had died of plague, according to The Moscow Times.
He later stated that the woman had not visited Buryatia and that her infection was unrelated to the region.
Tsydenov wrote that there are no plague outbreaks in the republic, including in areas bordering Mongolia.
Gennady Onishchenko, a former head of Rospotrebnadzor, said the infection in the Irkutsk region was most likely not the plague.
He told TASS that even if plague were confirmed, there would be no spread of the disease, and that the onset of cold weather would likely prevent transmission.
Officials in the town of Baikalsk posted a message on Telegram urging residents to avoid travelling to Shelekhov due to unofficial information about a plague case, according to the independent outlet Ekho.
The post was deleted two hours later, but an archived copy was preserved by the monitoring service TGStat.
Rospotrebnadzor stated that no incidents involving pathogenic microorganisms had been recorded at the institute and that no staff member had sought medical help for infectious diseases in the past 10 days, according to Euronews.
International Monitoring
A US State Department spokesperson told CNN that the United States is aware of the possible death due to pneumonic plague in Russia.
The spokesperson said the US is monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and other interagency partners.
The spokesperson also said many details have not been confirmed and encouraged Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly.
The US Department of Health and Human Services told CNN that the CDC is closely monitoring the situation in Russia and that the safety and security of US citizens is its highest priority.
The World Health Organization has noted that plague has a high fatality rate but is easily treated with antibiotics and the use of precautions to prevent infections.
Pneumonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
It is the only form that can spread easily from person to person through respiratory particles, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms include fever, headache, weakness and rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery mucous.
According to Meduza, the most recent case of pneumonic plague in Russia was recorded in 2016 in the Altai Republic, also in Siberia.
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