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A 28-year-old laboratory scientist in Russia's Siberian Irkutsk region has died in a suspected plague case, while authorities placed identified contacts under medical observation and imposed quarantine measures, according to regional officials and media reports.
Alexei Tsydenov, governor of neighboring Buryatia, said Friday that a woman in the Irkutsk region had “died of plague.”
Local media identified her as Darya Shipilova, a laboratory technician who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute.
The People of Baikal news outlet reported that she may have contracted pneumonic plague after a test tube broke, while other Russian reports described the suspected infection as bubonic plague. There was no immediate official confirmation of the specific form of the disease.
Russia's Health Ministry had not issued an immediate statement.
People of Baikal reported that as many as 200 people who may have had contact with Shipilova were under quarantine.
Separate reports said the Shelekhov District Hospital, where she was treated, had been placed under quarantine and its roughly 100 staff members isolated.
Russia's Chief State Sanitary Doctor Anna Popova traveled about 2,600 miles from Moscow to Irkutsk to oversee the response.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said an extraordinary meeting of the regional sanitary and anti-epidemic commission was held with Popova after authorities received information about “a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infectious disease.”
“All identified contacts have been placed under medical observation,” Kobzev said.
None of those tested had shown signs of illness, according to the reports.
Residents of Shelekhov, a suburb of Irkutsk where the woman died, were also ordered to wear masks. Footage cited in the reports showed a medical worker wearing full protective equipment in the town.
One resident said seeing a person in a full protective suit among ordinary people had caused concern about whether samples were already being collected in the city.
Reports offered several possible explanations for how Shipilova became infected.
One theory said she accidentally broke a test tube containing a dangerous bacterium while working with biological material used for diagnostic testing. Another report claimed she had been bitten by a laboratory rat.
Russian media said she may have come into contact with the pathogen on Sept. 25, called an ambulance with symptoms associated with bubonic plague on Sept. 29 and died two days later after being placed on a ventilator.
Mash reported that doctors and Russia's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, were investigating the circumstances of the infection and carrying out anti-epidemic measures.
Reports also said Shipilova had recently taken part in an expedition near the Russia-Mongolia border, where infections had been detected.
Three expeditions involving Russian and Mongolian scientists were recorded in remote border areas this year. Mongolian sources said cultures of the plague pathogen had been isolated and that an active natural plague focus had been identified.
Officials, including Popova, had not publicly confirmed the specific form of the disease.
Plague is an infectious bacterial disease. According to the World Health Organization, pneumonic plague is highly infectious and can be fatal if treatment does not begin early.
The last registered plague case in Russia was reported in 2016, when a 10-year-old boy became infected while skinning a marmot carcass.
The bacterial disease was also responsible for the medieval Black Death.
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