America Tells Russia To Come Clean Over Suspected Plague Outbreak

The State Department is pressing Russia to share accurate information about a mysterious illness that led to the death of a lab worker at an anti-plague institute. On Sunday, Russia’s public health agency said it implemented a “set of anti-epidemic measures” in Siberia’s Irkutsk region. The announcement came in the wake of the death of a researcher at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute, Darya Shipilova. Reports that she was infected with Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes the pneumonic plague, has led to concerns about a potential outbreak of the disease behind the Black Death in the 14th century.A State Department spokesman told The Sun, “We are aware of reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. We are monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and our other interagency partners.“Many details have not been confirmed. We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly,” the spokesman said. “Plague is a known disease and is treatable with common antibiotics, especially when treatment starts early. Cases occur naturally in many parts of the world.”Russian health officials have not confirmed how Shipilova was infected, or what she was infected with, only saying that she died from pneumonia of an “undetermined” origin. However, the head of the neighboring Buryatia oblast, Alexey Tsydenov, wrote on social media that Shipilova may have died of the plague — though he said there is no outbreak.An open-source biothreat surveillance program at Boston University, BEACON, notes that reports indicate Shipilova was infected after she broke a test tube containing Yersinia pestis bacteria, or Y. pestis. She was reportedly hospitalized on September 29 and died on October 2. Left untreated, the plague has a nearly 100 percent fatality rate. A professor of cellular microbiology at University of Reading’s School of Biological Sciences, Simon Clarke, told The Sun that the reports of the potential plague outbreak in Russia have “inevitably drawn comparisons to COVID-19, but it is important to remember that pneumonic plague is a very different disease.” He noted that “unlike many viral respiratory diseases” Y. pestis is “generally treatable with antibiotics if identified quickly.”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that if infected individuals promptly receive treatment, the fatality rate for the plague is around 17 percent. Mr. Clarke said. “Unlike the bubonic plague which enters the body via infected flea bites, pneumonic plague can spread between people through respiratory droplets during close contact.”Referring to reports that Shipilova was infected after breaking a test tube, Mr. Clarke said that would mean that “an awful lot must have gone wrong.”“I know that handling dangerous pathogens involves multiple layers of protection, strict procedures, safety cabinets, airflow systems and careful procedures carried out by well-trained staff. Lab-acquired infections are rare events, and a broken tube would not automatically lead to exposure or infection,” he said. “We also don’t tend to use test tubes very much.”Mr. Clarke added that until there is more verified information about the situation it will be difficult to determine whether it is an isolated incident or “evidence of wider transmission.”The American-funded news outlet, RadioFreeEurope/Radio Liberty reported that several hospitals in the area have been placed on quarantine, and that roughly 200 people who may have had contact with Shipilova are isolating and under medical observation. BEACON said that the “immediate trajectory depends on whether this case is confirmed as pneumonic plague,” and whether any of the individuals who are isolated start to show any symptoms of the illness.

America Tells Russia To Come Clean Over Suspected Plague Outbreak

America Tells Russia To Come Clean Over Suspected Plague Outbreak

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