Dozens of people have reportedly been placed in isolation after a laboratory worker at a Russian institute specialising in plague and other infectious diseases died from an illness of unknown origin.
The researcher, identified by local media as 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova, worked at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia in Shelekhov. She died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of “unknown” origin, according to Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s agency responsible for infectious disease control.
Rospotrebnadzor has played down any connection between Shipilova’s death and her work at the institute, according to CNN.
“No micro-organisms associated with the employee’s professional duties were detected in samples taken from the patient,” the agency said, adding that the “epidemiological situation” in the region remained stable.
Nevertheless, Rospotrebnadzor chief Anna Popova travelled to Irkutsk on Friday for what regional governor Igor Kobzev described as an extraordinary meeting of the regional anti-epidemic commission.
Kobzev said on Telegram that the meeting was called in connection with a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection affecting a resident of the region”.
The institute where Shipilova worked declined to comment when contacted by CNN on Monday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the administration was closely watching developments.
“I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it,” Rubio said.
President Donald Trump later said the United States would be willing to provide assistance.
“Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we’re always willing to help,” Trump told reporters before leaving the White House for Nebraska.
“I hate to see them having it,” he added. “It’s a rough disease.”
Anti-epidemic measures imposed
Regional authorities have introduced what Maxim Modin, mayor of the Shelekhovsky district near the Mongolian border, described as a “comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures”.
The inpatient facility at the hospital where Shipilova was treated has been placed under quarantine, while several departments have stopped admitting or discharging patients, Modin said.
Local media reported that other hospitals in the region had also been closed.
Authorities in Irkutsk also cancelled an annual community clean-up event scheduled for the weekend, a decision local media linked to the incident.
Officials confirmed the woman’s death last week.
Ekaterina, a resident of Shelekhov, told CNN on Monday that there were no visible changes in the city, although anxiety was growing among residents.
“My acquaintances are slightly panicking,” she said.
Another resident, who asked not to be identified, said he was “shocked” by the news.
Unofficial reports, including one by independent regional outlet Liudi Baikala, said nearly 200 people were under medical observation.
Several people who had been in contact with Shipilova were diagnosed with Covid-19 and rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold, Rospotrebnadzor said, according to state news agency TASS.
The Kremlin urged the public to rely only on official information.
“One should rely on official statements from Rospotrebnadzor rather than listening to various rumours and speculation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
WHO says public health risk ‘low’
The World Health Organization told CNN it was in contact with Russian health authorities to “verify the event, its circumstances, the laboratory tests underway, and their results”.
“Based on unofficial information available, the public health risk to the general population appears to be low,” the WHO said.
Despite those reassurances, several countries in the region have introduced precautionary measures.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health said that although the risk was “very low”, it was monitoring the situation and had introduced “sanitary and quarantine controls” at state border crossings.
Uzbekistan said it had “increased the readiness” of relevant authorities to respond to highly infectious diseases.
Kyrgyzstan, which does not share a land border with Russia and lies about 1,500 miles from Irkutsk, announced on Monday that it was introducing quarantine controls at state border crossings.
Alexander Chepurnov, a virologist in Siberia, told CNN that the strict protocols were intended to prevent further transmission.
“After any suspected exposure, staff are instructed to immediately report it, decontaminate, undergo medical assessment and be isolated in a separate dedicated facility for however long they might be infectious,” Chepurnov said.
Deadly but not easily transmitted
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, told CNN that although pneumonic plague can be deadly, it is not highly transmissible and a person generally needs exposure to a high bacterial load to become infected.
In that respect, she said, it differs from respiratory illnesses such as Covid-19.
Rasmussen added that plague is endemic among wildlife in parts of Siberia.
According to its website, the Anti-Plague Institute employs around 95 researchers and is a major public health facility responsible for monitoring and preventing outbreaks of high-risk bacterial and viral infections across Siberia and Russia’s Far East.
Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighbouring republic of Buryatia, earlier said the employee had died “possibly from the plague”, while stressing that there had been no outbreak of the disease in his region.
Pneumonic plague is one of three forms of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
A US State Department spokesperson told CNN on Sunday that Washington was aware of reports of a possible death from pneumonic plague in Russia.
“We are monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and our other interagency partners,” the spokesperson said. “Many details have not been confirmed. We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly.”
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, patients with pneumonic plague can develop fever, headache and weakness, followed by rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing and sometimes bloody or watery mucus.
