Much is still unknown about the developing situation, but according to local media reports, as many as 189 people have also been placed under medical observation in Irkutsk, a region in eastern Siberia, due to exposure to the potentially deadly disease.
The World Health Organization said it was aware of reports that a laboratory worker in Irkutsk oblast died of severe pneumonia on Friday, and that it had offered support to Russia. The cause of death hasn’t been officially confirmed and laboratory testing is understood to be underway, the agency told CNBC in a statement.
“All of the patient’s contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness,” the WHO said.
Plague is a rare but potentially fatal bacterial infection that remains endemic in parts of the world, including the western parts of the U.S., but can be treated with antibiotics if identified quickly. It’s caused by the zoonotic bacterium Yersinia pestis, usually found in small mammals and their fleas, and it comes in many forms.
Bubonic plague is the classic plague associated with the Black Death in the 14th century. Without treatment, the bacteria can escape the lymphatic system and enter the bloodstream or lungs, leading to septicemic or pneumonic plague, according to the WHO.
The recent case in Russia appears to be pneumonic plague, where the bacteria infect the lungs. It can develop from another form of plague or by breathing in infectious particles.
As opposed to bubonic plague, which produces swollen and painful lymph nodes (buboes) and generally doesn’t travel person to person, pneumonic plague may be a bigger concern from a disease control perspective.
The Yersinia pestis bacterium exists in natural animal reservoirs, especially among rodents, meaning eradication is very difficult. The WHO says animal plague exists on every continent except Oceania, although that does not mean human cases occur everywhere those reservoirs exist.
“Potentially this lab-acquired case of pneumonic plague could be transmitted by the respiratory route,” Brendan Wren, professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told CNBC. “Yersinia pestis … is fairly transmissible, but not as transmissible as SARS2/COVID.”
According to Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, the employee at the anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown aetiology.” The situation in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov was “stable,” and measures have been implemented in response to the case, it said in a statement Sunday.
Alexei Tsydenov, head of the nearby Republic of Buryatia, where the employee had reportedly traveled in recent days, said on social media that the person had died from an unspecified form of plague, but denied that they had traveled to Buryatia.
CNBC has not been able to independently verify the reports. The Russian Ministry of Health didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
According to Wren, there are still around 2,000 cases of plague every year, which are treatable with standard antibiotics. “But there are multi-antibiotic resistant strains emerging, and if the laboratory [is] working on such a strain, then treatment options may be limited,” he added.
Russian hospitals on lockdown as '14th-century plague outbreak' sparks panic
Several hospitals have been shut down and placed under quarantine as the so-called 'black death plague' begins to take hold across Russia. A total of five hospitals have been closed for quarantine purposes in Siberia, following a suspected plague outbreak. The medical facilities have reportedly been shut for a minimum three-week quarantine period after a laboratory worker lost her life to an "unspecified form of plague".
According to reports from independent media outlet Baikal People, hospitals in Russia's Irkutsk region have been placed under a three-week quarantine following the death of 28-year-old lab technician Darya Shipilova, who reportedly broke a test tube containing live Yersinia pestis, a bacterium responsible for the plague, a severe infectious disease predominantly found in small mammals and their fleas.
The incident occurred at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute on September 25 while she was handling samples, and the illness now appears to be spreading, having grown from affecting one hospital to five. A mask mandate - similar to those enforced across the UK during the Covidpandemic - has now been put in place at the large aluminium plant in Irkutsk.
However, a popular doctor on social media has suggested it would be extremely difficult for the disease to become a global pandemic. Dr Richard Hirschon said on X: "Pneumonic Plague cannot become a global pandemic , it is far too lethal, person-to-person spread is inefficient, it is airborne in droplets but not aerosolised. Distant spread is very unlikely. We have good prophylactic antibiotics."
Some US politicians are now calling for commercial flights to and from Russia to be suspended until the situation becomes clearer. The first symptoms of pneumonic plague typically emerge around 4 to 7 days following exposure, and it is currently believed that approximately 200 people are under observation.
Among the affected medical facilities are reportedly City Clinical Hospitals Nos. 1, 3, and 10, alongside the Ivano-Matreninskaya City Children's Clinical Hospital.
Citing a healthcare sector source, Baikal People reports that medical professionals in Irkutsk are "already openly talking about the plague."
The governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, sought to calm the situation last Friday. Healthcare authorities in the region have confirmed that nearly 200 individuals are currently under medical supervision, with media reports indicating that nobody is permitted to depart from or visit relatives at any of the designated hospitals.
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