‘Mysterious’ virus kills Russian lab worker as hundreds placed in quarantine

Russian authorities have imposed ‘anti-epidemic measures’

Authorities placed nearly 200 contacts under observation after the death of a researcher at a Russian institute researching plague and other pathogens in Siberia.

According to independent regional outlet Liudi Baikala, the researcher was a 28-year-old woman who worked as a lab technician at Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East.

Liudi Baikala also reported that the woman accidentally broke a test tube containing the plague pathogen at the lab, but the Russian authorities did not confirm these claims.

The identity and the source of the deceased researcher’s “pneumonia of unknown etiology” remain unclear.

It is also not known if she contracted any form of the plague or whether an incident occurred in the lab.

Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East. Image credits: Google

Emergency meetings following suspicion of ‘dangerous infection’

The governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, held an emergency meeting with regional anti-epidemic officials and the head of Rospotrebnadzor late last week.

He noted on Telegram that this was in response to a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection,” affecting a resident in the region.

The health agency had implemented a “comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures”, Kobzev added.

On the other hand, the head of the neighboring region of Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov, said the woman “may have died of the plague”.

Meanwhile, mask mandates were implemented by authorities at the Irkutsk Aluminum Smelter, the Russian business outlet Kommersant reported.

What Russia’s top health authority said

The researcher had contracted “pneumonia of unknown etiology”, Russia’s national public health agency Rospotrebnadzor said.

Rospotrebnadzor also said in a statement issued late Sunday that the “sanitary and epidemiological situation” in Irkutsk and Shelekhov was “stable.”

The agency added that it conducted extensive testing and found no pathogens linked to the deceased patient’s laboratory work in her sample.

However, the statement did not make it clear if the researcher’s pneumonia and death were caused by any other disease or how she may have contracted the illness.

As reported by state media agencies, the statement added that no new cases of infectious disease have been reported among the plague institute’s employees in the past 10 days.

The institute also didn’t find any “emergency situations involving pathogenic microorganisms”, as per the statement.

What is the pneumonic plague and what causes it, according to WHO

The World Health Organization states that plague is a disease caused by the zoonotic bacterium Yersinia pestis.

This is usually found in small mammals like rodents and in their fleas.

The most common form of plague is the Bubonic Plague, and it is transmitted from animals to humans through the bite of infected fleas.

The less common Pneumonic Plague is far more virulent and can be transmitted through respiratory particles to other people.

If not detected and treated early, it can turn out highly fatal.

According to Axios, the White House is monitoring reports about the death of the researcher and the subsequent emergency quarantine measures implemented by Russian authorities.

Speaking to the outlet, an unnamed official from the Trump administration said that it is “aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options.”