Pneumonic plague scare: Russia says no outbreak after Siberian lab worker’s death

Russia on Thursday said there were no health issues or dangerous microorganisms identified after tracing all contacts of a woman who reportedly died of pneumonic plague.The governor of Siberia’s Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, quashed the rumours after the incident occurred at the region’s anti-plague institute last week.Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has informed the World Health Organization that no cases of plague have been reported.In brief statements, the Russian agency said the lab worker had contracted pneumonia of “unknown” origin, while tests found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with at the institute.The woman, an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, was admitted to hospital on September 29 with symptoms of severe pneumonia and was placed on a ventilator.She later died overnight, between October 1 and 2.After this, nearly 200 employees, who reportedly came into contact with her, were quarantined.There are two theories on how the woman came into contact with the plague.One theory was that she had recently returned from a work trip to the Buryatia region, where a plague outbreak was reportedly being reported near the border with Mongolia.Another suggested that she may have accidentally broken a test tube containing a dangerous bacterium in a laboratory.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.