Laboratory technician dies of pneumonic plague in Siberia after accident at work

Alert in Russia: a laboratory technician has died in Siberia after contracting pneumonic plague, after an accident at her workplace in which she broke a test tube. According to the local press, there are already at least 200 people in quarantine.

Darya Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, where she is believed to have contracted the disease, according to local media outlet People of Baikal.

Shipilova was admitted to a local hospital on September 29 and died two days later after being connected to a respirator. According to this medium, up to 200 people with whom he may have had contact have been quarantined, he added, without giving further details.

Russia's Health Ministry did not immediately issue a statement, but Alexei Tsydenov, governor of Russia's Buryatia region, said in a social media post that a woman in the neighboring Irkutsk region had "died of plague."

According to local newspapers, the head of Russia's state health service, Anna Popova, rushed to Siberia to personally take charge of the outbreak, while a decree on the use of masks has been implemented in Irkutsk.

Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev stated: "We held an extraordinary meeting of the regional sanitary and anti-epidemic commission with the participation of the Head of State Health of Russia, Anna Popova."

"The reason was information that had emerged about a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infectious disease in a resident of the region," Kobzev added.