Suspected plague in Russia, around 200 people monitored after researcher’s death

Around 200 people are being kept under medical observation in the Irkutsk region of eastern Siberia over fears that they may have been exposed to plague, local media report.

The decision was made after an employee of a plague research institute in Irkutsk fell ill. Alexei Tsydenov, head of the Republic of Buryatia, said the woman had died from an unspecified form of the disease.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health surveillance authority, gave a different account on Sunday. According to the agency, the employee had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” while the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, as well as in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov, remains stable.

The authority added that tests conducted on a broader scale did not identify microorganisms that could be linked to her work at the institute.

The case became public on Friday, when local media reported that the 27-year-old employee was suspected of having plague-related pneumonia after returning from a business trip to Buryatia. An outbreak had previously been reported in that area near the border with Mongolia.

According to Axios, the White House is also following developments related to the suspected case and the quarantine measures introduced in Russia. A Trump administration official said that US authorities had been informed, were monitoring the situation and were considering possible measures.

Russia’s and Moscow’s health ministries, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the US State Department have yet to issue an official response.

At this stage, Russian authorities have not confirmed that plague has broken out in Irkutsk. The circumstances and cause of the employee’s death also remain unclear and contradictory.