The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said the US is closely monitoring the case of a Russian laboratory worker who died last week after a reported accident at a plague research institute in Siberia. “We’re watching and monitoring it closely,” Rubio said on Monday. “I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause just to keep an eye on it.”
Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee at the anti-plague institute in Irkutsk, became ill at work. She died two days later on the night of 2 October at a regional hospital in the nearby town of Shelekhov. Unconfirmed reports in Russian media have suggested Shipilova may have been infected after a mishap at the laboratory. Local media have reported that the institute has subsequently been locked down, with staff forced to sleep on the floor and on chairs.
Senior Russian officials have added to public disquiet by sending conflicting messages. Alexey Tsydenov, the head of the Buryatia region, initially wrote that Shipilova had died of plague, before editing his post to say she had “possibly” died of the disease. Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health watchdog, said Shipilova died from “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”. Authorities in the nearby city of Baikalsk briefly urged residents to avoid travelling to Shelekhov after unofficial information about a possible plague infection.
Despite the lack of a confirmed diagnosis, precautionary measures have been introduced across the region. Several hospitals in Irkutsk have been placed under quarantine. Staff from Shipilova’s workplace have been kept inside the institute since 2 October. A mask requirement was introduced at the Irkutsk aluminium smelter in Shelekhov.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing