Siberian Plague Institute Worker Dies After Mysterious Illness

By Staff, Agencies

Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and placed contacts under medical monitoring after an employee of a Siberian plague research institute died following pneumonia of unknown origin. Local state television reported that the woman died last week.

Authorities said extensive testing found no evidence linking her illness to pathogens handled at her workplace.

However, unconfirmed media reports that she may have contracted pneumonic plague have raised concern. The severe form of plague can be transmitted between people.

The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. She died at a hospital in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk, which was placed under quarantine, according to Mayor Maxim Modin.

The facility stopped admitting and discharging patients and suspended routine laboratory testing, while its outpatient clinic remained open.

Meanwhile, Rospotrebnadzor chief Anna Popova traveled to Irkutsk and met with regional officials. Governor Igor Kobzev said everyone who had contact with the woman was placed under medical supervision, describing the case as a suspected “particularly dangerous infection.”

Rospotrebnadzor said Sunday that the woman had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.”

It said extensive testing detected no microorganisms associated with her professional activities and found no incidents involving pathogens at the research institute.

Two contacts tested positive for a common-cold virus and two for COVID-19, while all other tests were negative.