Afət Ziyadqızı
The US Embassy in Russia has issued a statement on the health situation in Irkutsk region and claims of infectious disease. The diplomatic mission said it was closely monitoring reports that one person had died amid suspected plague, that quarantine measures had been introduced at some hospitals and that medical facilities had been temporarily closed.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the embassy advised US citizens living in the region to follow instructions from local health authorities, avoid hospitals under quarantine and seek medical attention immediately if they develop a fever or respiratory symptoms. People travelling to the region were also advised to monitor their health for 14 days.
On Oct. 2, Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev convened an emergency anti-epidemic commission meeting after a resident was suspected of having a “particularly dangerous infection.” Social media posts claimed that an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute for Siberia and the Far East had died of “pneumonic plague.”
Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) clarified that the institute employee had been diagnosed with pneumonia of undetermined origin and that special sanitary and epidemiological measures had been taken as a precaution. Plague is an infectious disease caused by bacteria; public health authorities use quarantine and monitoring measures to limit the spread of suspected infections.
