Russian authorities: Death of laboratory worker not due to plague

Moscow. According to official Russian information, the death of a laboratory worker in Siberia was not caused by a plague pathogen. The 28-year-old, who worked at an institute to combat plague diseases, died of “pneumonia of unknown origin”. This was announced by the Russian agency responsible for disease control, Rospotrebnadzor, as reported by the Interfax news agency.

No microorganisms “related to her professional activity” were detected in the patient’s samples. The woman died last Friday in the district hospital in the city of Shelekhov near Irkutsk in Siberia.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, investigations showed that there was no laboratory accident at the institute in Irkutsk. There had previously been unconfirmed reports that the woman may have contracted pneumonic plague when she accidentally dropped a test tube.

The authority announced that the hygienic-epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region and in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov is stable. A “package of measures will be implemented”. According to the Telegram channel “Lyudi Baykala”, two general hospitals and a children's clinic in Irkutsk have been quarantined.