Dozens of people have been quarantined and outbreak control measures are underway after a laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia died last week in undisclosed circumstances. There have been conflicting reports about how the 28-year-old laboratory worker, named by local media as “Darya Shipilova,” had fallen ill and some Russian media reports are no longer available online. A local news source claimed that the lab worker was exposed to plague via a broken test tube, but local authorities have said there was no evidence to support this.
Igor Kobzev, the regional governor of Irkutsk, said Monday the staffer had died from “pneumonia of undetermined” origin. Acknowledging there have been “different interpretations of the events” in the media, he said extensive laboratory tests had determined “no microorganisms related to the girl's professional activities were found in her biological samples.” He also said no new employees from the institute had sought medical attention in the past few days. Rospotrebnadzor, the government body responsible for public health, similarly told state media the institute had not found signs of any accidents involving the handling of pathogens in the lab.
Maxim Modin, the mayor of the Shelekhovsky district in the Irkutsk region, said “comprehensive anti-epidemic measures are being implemented” in the area in response to the incident and that anyone who had contact with the deceased patient is being tested daily. Dozens of people who had been in contact with the lab worker have now been quarantined and are under observation by medical professionals. Local media also reported that the inpatient department at the Shelekhov hospital where the lab worker died has been closed due to a suspected “particularly dangerous infection," with local residents informed they will be unable to visit family at the facility.
This has not been confirmed by public officials. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, in remarks carried by Russian state media outlet TASS,told reporters Rospotrebnadzor should be followed for official updates, “rather than listening to various rumors and speculations.” TIME has reached out to the Russian Health Ministry, the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, and Rospotrebnadzor for further comment. Amid growing online speculation, some social media users have likened the reports coming out of Russia to those that circulated in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020.
Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, stressed in a statement that it is “important to remember that pneumonic plague is a very different” disease. "Pneumonic plague is particularly serious because it means the infection has reached the lungs and is nearly always fatal if not treated promptly. Unlike the bubonic plague which enters the body via infected flea bites, pneumonic plague can spread between people through respiratory droplets during close contact.” However, unlike many viral respiratory diseases, he said, “plague is caused by bacteria and is generally treatable with antibiotics, if identified quickly.” Remarking on the unverified reports that a lab worker was exposed to plague via a broken test tube, Clarke again urged caution.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is closely monitoring the evolving situation. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told TIME: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is monitoring the situation closely with the State Department and our other interagency partners. The safety and security of U.S. citizens is our highest priority.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said “it seems there was a worker at the lab that was infected” and “there’s concern that could have spread, at least internally, so you’ve seen them do quarantines.” “There’s very limited travel between the U.S and Russia, obviously, but like anything else, something like that gets out and it could quickly spread,” Rubio continued.
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