White House Closely Monitoring Suspected Plague Pathogen Leak in Russia
Axios, a U.S. online media outlet, reported on October 4 (local time) that the White House is closely monitoring and preparing countermeasures regarding a suspected pathogen leak incident at a plague prevention research institute in Siberia, Russia, which resulted in the death of a female researcher in her twenties and the quarantine of those who had contact with her.
An official from the Trump Administration stated, "We are treating the situation very seriously and are reviewing possible response measures while monitoring the outbreak patterns."
According to the Axios report, a 28-year-old female researcher at the Irkutsk Plague Prevention Research Institute in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk, Russia, accidentally broke a test tube containing the plague pathogen on September 25. She was hospitalized on September 29 with severe pneumonia symptoms and died during the night between October 1 and 2.
On October 4, Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's federal agency in charge of infectious diseases, announced that the female researcher died after being diagnosed with "pneumonia of unknown origin." Authorities are currently investigating to determine the exact type of leaked pathogen. Alexey Tsydenov, Head of the Republic of Buryatia adjacent to Irkutsk Oblast, stated that "plague is a possible cause" of the researcher's death, but added that there has been no outbreak of plague clusters in the Buryatia region.
According to local independent media such as "Lyudi Baikala," about 200 people at Shelekhov Hospital, where the deceased researcher was transferred, have been designated for quarantine observation. A maternity hospital in the city has also been placed under quarantine.
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Pneumonic plague is one of the three main manifestations of infection by the plague bacterium. Unlike other forms of plague, which are transmitted through contact with fleas or animals, pneumonic plague can be spread from person to person via respiratory droplets (fine saliva particles).
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