A health alert has emerged from Russia’s Siberian region of Irkutsk after a laboratory worker died from plague, forcing authorities to place nearly 200 people under medical watch. A hospital has been quarantined and people who could have crossed paths with the woman’s symptoms are being closely watched.
She worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and was a woman in her late 20s, according to reports. She was admitted to a hospital in Shelekhov after suffering from severe pneumonia and was put on mechanical ventilation but died several days later. Regional authorities and Russian media have now said plague is believed to have played a role in her illness.
Daria Sh. is also reported as the laboratory worker, but some Russian media reports identify her as Darya Shipilova. Details about how she got the infection are still being investigated. One possible explanation is that she accidentally broke a test tube that contained live plague bacteria as she collected samples for diagnostic work.
The incident has triggered contact tracing and medical observation measures in the Irkutsk region. Reports show that 197 people who might have had contact with the laboratory worker were under observation, with more than 100 being monitored in hospital wards. Some reports said 189 were hospitalized for observation.
The Shelekhov district hospital where the woman was treated is also under quarantine until health officials can assess the situation. The measures are designed to identify possible infections early on and prevent infection if more cases are recorded.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev has urged residents to remain calm while officials coordinate the response with Russia’s consumer safety watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor. Kobzev said people who have contacts were being medically checked and initial laboratory tests had not detected infection among those under observation.
The case has received particular attention since media reports have described it as a possible case of pneumonic plague. Pneumonic plague affects the lungs and is different from the more common bubonic form which primarily involves the lymph nodes. Pneumonic plague is transmitted between individuals through respiratory droplets so identification and treatment of contacts is essential.
Although officials have not always specified the type of plague involved, Alexei Tsydenov, head of neighbouring Buryatia, confirmed the woman had died from plague, but others at first referred to a “particularly dangerous infection.” This means cases reporting the case as pneumonic plague must be treated with some caution until it is clearly confirmed.
The Buryatia authorities have also tried to rule out a connection between the woman’s illness and a local plague outbreak. Tsydenov said she had not visited Buryatia and stated that there were no plague outbreaks in the republic, including areas near the border with Mongolia.
The Russian government also took further precautions in Irkutsk and canceled planned public events, the Russian newspaper said. The death was also claimed to have happened in violation of health and safety rules.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Although the disease has a long and deadly history, modern antibiotics can be effective when plague is diagnosed and treated promptly. Thus the current situation in Irkutsk is being closely monitored by health authorities, because of the laboratory setting and the number of people who may have been exposed.
For now, the key focus is on monitoring the nearly 200 contacts that have been identified, providing laboratory tests and determining how the laboratory worker may have gotten infected. So far no signs of illness have been noted among the identified contacts, and the cause of death is still under investigation, the authorities said.
