Russia Launches Anti-Epidemic Measures After Anti-Plague Institute Worker Pneumonia Death In Shelekhov

US watches Siberia case

Russian authorities in the Irkutsk region launched anti-epidemic measures after an employee of the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov was diagnosed with "pneumonia of an unknown etiology," and the State Department said it was monitoring the situation closely with the CDC. President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that the U.S. is willing to help, saying, "Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we're always willing to help," and he added that his administration is "looking at it very strongly." Rospotrebnadzor said "no accidents have been detected at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute while working with pathogenic microorganisms" and said the "sanitary and epidemiological situation" in the Irkutsk Region, the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov, is "stable."

Governor Igor Kobzev said people who had contact with a resident who contracted a "particularly dangerous infection" were placed under medical observation, and he later said that "no microorganisms associated with the woman's professional activities were found in her biomaterials." The CDC said it is "monitoring the situation closely" with the State Department, while a State Department spokesperson said, "Many details have not been confirmed."

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Quarantine and conflicting reports

Al Jazeera said dozens of people were quarantined in Russia’s Siberia after a laboratory worker at a plague research institute fell ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, and it described Russian media reports that the woman may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube. Russian officials said they found no evidence that the woman’s illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with, and the governor said the woman had died of "pneumonia of unknown aetiology" while adding that "no new cases of staff from the Anti-Plague Institute seeking medical attention have been identified." The BBC reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was watching closely, and Rubio said, "If something like that gets out, it can quickly spread."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people not to rely on rumors, and he said, "rely on Rospotrebnadzor's official statements" instead. RFE/RL reported that Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, was hospitalized on September 29 and died at a hospital early on October 2, while Rospotrebnadzor said she was diagnosed with "pneumonia of unknown etiology."

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Low risk, but monitoring

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that the public health risk in Russia and Europe was considered low after the incident, and a spokesman said the initial risk assessment estimated the risk to be "moderate to low for Irkutsk" and "very low for the WHO European region."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Russia to be more transparent, and he said, "I think it's incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world," after Russia’s national health agency denied earlier reports about a lab accident.

AP reported that the hospital where the woman was treated was placed under quarantine, and Mayor Maxim Modin said it was no longer admitting or discharging patients and its laboratory halted carrying out routine tests.

AP also quoted Trump saying, "It's a rough disease," and it reported that Trump compared the microbes to "an army" as he described why pneumonia could be harder to control.

RFE/RL said about 200 people who may have had contact with Shipilova were placed under medical observation or isolation, and it reported that staff at the anti-plague institute were confined to the facility since October 2, sleeping on floors and chairs while awaiting test results.

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