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A laboratory worker has died after a suspected dangerous infection was reported at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk in Siberia, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Russia’s consumer health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said the employee had been diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause. Authorities have not identified what may have been released in the laboratory incident.
Authorities say situation is stable
Rospotrebnadzor said special measures had been taken in connection with the case, adding that the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region and the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov remained stable.
Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighboring Republic of Buryatia, said the worker was a 28-year-old woman who had possibly died of plague. He also said there were no plague outbreaks in Buryatia.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said an extraordinary meeting of the regional anti-epidemic commission had been held with Russia’s chief state doctor over a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection in a local resident.
Contacts under medical supervision
Staff at an aluminum plant near the laboratory were instructed to wear masks as a precaution. Plant director Artem Fominikh urged people to remain calm, saying rumors and conflicting reports were circulating.
Fominikh said all identified close contacts were under medical supervision and had shown no symptoms. Their laboratory test results were negative, he said.
Unverified reports by the independent regional outlet Liudi Baikala said nearly 200 people were placed under observation at the Shelekhov hospital where the worker was taken. The outlet also reported that at least one maternity hospital in the city had been placed under quarantine.
Former watchdog chief says plague is unlikely
Gennady Onishchenko, a former head of Rospotrebnadzor, said the infection was most likely not plague and that, even if plague were confirmed, it would not spread. He told TASS that the onset of cold weather would likely hinder transmission.
Pneumonic plague is one of three forms of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Unlike the other forms, which are typically transmitted through infected fleas, animals or tissues, pneumonic plague can spread from person to person through respiratory particles.
Symptoms can include fever, headache, weakness and rapidly developing pneumonia, with shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization says plague can be fatal but is treatable with antibiotics and infection-control precautions.
