Russia quarantines hospital after Siberian plague institute worker dies
Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring people who came into contact with an employee of a plague research institute in Siberia who developed pneumonia of an "unknown" cause. Local state television reported that the woman died last week.
The case has caused concern in Russia after unconfirmed media reports suggested she may have died of pneumonic plague, a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person. However, Russian authorities have said they found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.
The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, in southeastern Siberia. A state TV station in Irkutsk reported on Monday that she died last week in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town outside Irkutsk. Shelekhov Mayor Maxim Modin said on Friday that the hospital had been placed under quarantine and was no longer admitting or discharging patients, while its laboratory had stopped carrying out routine tests. He said the hospital's outpatient clinic was operating as usual.
Anna Popova, head of Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk and met Governor Igor Kobzev and other officials on Friday. Kobzev said everyone who came into contact with the woman was under medical supervision. He did not identify the infection and called it a suspected case of "a particularly dangerous infection". He added that Rospotrebnadzor was implementing "a full range of anti-epidemic measures".
Rospotrebnadzor said on Sunday that the woman had been diagnosed with "pneumonia of unknown etiology", or origin, and that "extensive" testing found "no microorganisms associated with the patient's professional activities". The agency also said it had not found any incidents at the institute "involving pathogenic microorganisms". It said two people who had been in contact with the woman tested positive for a virus that causes the common cold and two others for COVID-19, while all others tested were negative.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said he was watching the situation with concern and that the United States would be willing to help, though he said he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about it. "It's a rough disease. You know, that's a disease we used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They're like an army," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "Even with great advancement, the germs have really become relatively stronger than they were, and things that used to work on pneumonia don't work as well anymore." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that he did not think there was cause for alarm, but said the US was watching the case closely because "it could spread quickly" despite the quarantine and other public health steps.
Independent local news outlet Lyudi Baikala, citing unidentified sources, reported that the 28-year-old lab technician died from pneumonic plague and that several Irkutsk hospitals had been placed under quarantine. Asked about the case on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the public and media should follow official statements from Rospotrebnadzor rather than "rumors or speculation". Rospotrebnadzor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Shelekhov, the Irkutsk Aluminium Plant asked staff to wear masks as a precaution, with its director Artyom Fominykh saying on Telegram: "Better be safe than sorry."
The World Health Organization describes pneumonic plague as a less common but severe form of plague. Dr Malick Gibani of Imperial College London said that in the event of a potential laboratory exposure, it would be normal to identify people who might have been exposed and monitor them based on the level of risk. Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading, said plague is still present in many parts of the world, including Russia, though modern living conditions and antibiotics limit its potential. For now, Russian authorities say the woman's illness remains an unexplained case of pneumonia, while quarantine and monitoring measures remain in place.
