Russia: Woman dies of the plague in Siberia; 200 under observation

A 28-year-old woman has died of the plague in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, and 197 people have been placed under observation, with some being admitted to hospital. The news was reported by several Russian media outlets and Deutsche Welle. According to some regional media outlets, the victim is believed to have worked as a laboratory assistant at a plague control centre. The Shelekhov District Hospital, where the 28-year-old died, has suspended the admission and discharge of patients in several wards. The patient’s death has not been officially announced. Governor Igor Kobzev reported that the regional government had held an extraordinary meeting of the regional health and anti-epidemic commission. The reason: information “regarding a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection in a resident of the region”.

“The public health situation in the Irkutsk region, and in particular in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov, is stable,” according to the Russian authorities, specifically Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian Federal Service for the Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection, following reports of an unspecified “illness” diagnosed in a female employee of the Irkutsk Research Institute for Plague and Far Eastern Diseases in Siberia. This was reported by Interfax.

In recent days, local media had reported that a woman had died of the plague in the remote Siberian region of Irkutsk, whilst dozens of people had been placed in quarantine. Local media have identified her as Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory technician, who may have contracted pneumonic plague following the breakage of a test tube. The media also reported that up to 200 people with whom she may have come into contact have been placed in quarantine. There had been no confirmation from the Russian authorities until now: “The public health situation in the Irkutsk region, in the cities of Irkutsk and Šelechov, is stable.”

“Specific measures were organised and implemented following the illness of an employee at the Siberian and Far Eastern Anti-Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk, who was diagnosed with pneumonia of unspecified origin,” the Rospotrebnadzor press office announced. In-depth tests on samples taken from the woman did not reveal the presence of any microorganisms linked to her work, as specified in the agency’s statement quoted by Interfax, which goes on to emphasise that no cases of infectious diseases have been recorded among the institute’s staff over the past 10 days.

“Following news of the case, a comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures was organised and implemented urgently and thoroughly, in accordance with health regulations; among other things, the widest possible circle of people who had come into contact with the infected woman was identified, and hospital-based medical monitoring involving daily laboratory tests was arranged. Two cases of Covid-19 and two cases of rhinovirus infection were identified, whilst no pathogens causing other infectious diseases were detected,” stated Rospotrebnadzor. “None of the people who came into contact with the patient showed any changes in their state of health attributable to infectious diseases,” the agency added.