At least five hospitals have been shut and hundreds quarantined after a 28-year-old laboratory technician reportedly died of plague in the remote Siberian region of Irkutsk in Russia.
The incident occurred at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov and the technician, identified as Darya Shipilova, reportedly contracted pneumonic plague, which is highly infectious and can be fatal if not treated early, from a broken test tube.
She told medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples for testing, according to local media reports.
Shipilova was reportedly hospitalised on September 29 with symptoms of severe pneumonia in Shelekhov, and was placed on a ventilator before she died on October 1.
Over 200 people with whom she may have had contact have now been put under quarantine.
Public events have also been reportedly cancelled in Irkutsk.
“Dangerous Infection”
Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev had initially said that a suspected case of a “particularly dangerous infection” has emerged, and urged the public to remain calm.
He, however, on Sunday said that it was a case of pneumonia of unknown etiology.
“Microorganisms associated with her professional activities were not detected in the patient’s samples,” he wrote on Telegram.
He also said that no infectious disease-related cases have been reported among the employees of the institute, which was founded in 1934 as a scientific operative body for controlling plague.
The Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov
(Picture quality enhanced through AI)
“All contacts of the patient have been identified, examined, and are under medical observation with daily laboratory testing,” he said.
Kobzev on October 2 had said that he met the chief of the consumer safety watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, to coordinate emergency containment measures.
“Rospotrebnadzor is implementing a full range of anti-epidemic measures,” he said.
Alexei Tsydenov, the governor of Russia’s Buryatia region, said in a social media post on October 2 that a woman in the neighbouring Irkutsk region had “possibly died of plague”. He also said that there are “no plague outbreaks” in his region.
What Is Pneumonic Plague
Plague is highly contagious and transmitted between animals and humans through the bite of infected fleas and contact with infected animals like marmots. Pneumonic plague, also called lung-based plague, is the most dangerous form, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The symptoms appear quickly after infection, sometimes within 24 hours, and include severe respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath and coughing, often with blood-tainted sputum.
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Incubation can be as short as 24 hours and any person with pneumonic plague may transmit the disease via respiratory particles to other humans.
“Untreated pneumonic plague, if not diagnosed and treated early, can be fatal,” the WHO has said on its website.
However, recovery rates are high if detected and treated in time, prefarably within 24 hours of onset of symptoms.
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