Nearly 200 contacts were reportedly placed under medical observation as Russian authorities offered conflicting accounts of the woman’s death
WASHINGTON — The White House said it is monitoring a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in Siberia after a laboratory worker died and nearly 200 of her contacts were placed under medical observation, amid conflicting accounts from Russian authorities about what killed her.
Darya Shipilova, 28, a technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, died days after she was admitted to a hospital Sept. 29 with severe pneumonia and placed on a ventilator, according to media reports.
Independent Russian outlets reported that Shipilova told medical staff she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live plague bacteria while handling samples Sept. 25.
Health authorities in the Irkutsk region placed about 189 people who had contact with Shipilova under medical observation in hospitals, according to reports. Several hospitals in the region were also operating under quarantine measures.
Russian officials said a full range of anti-epidemic measures had been put in place, while a mask mandate was reportedly imposed at a large aluminum plant in Irkutsk.
Russian authorities, however, have stopped short of publicly confirming a plague outbreak.
Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s federal consumer protection agency, said Shipilova died of pneumonia of unknown origin and that expanded testing found no microorganisms connected to her professional duties. The mayor of the Shelekhovsky district also said no work-related pathogens were detected in samples taken from the patient.
A Trump administration official told Axios on Sunday that the White House was aware of the situation, monitoring developments and assessing options.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration was watching the situation closely.
“I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus,” Rubio said.
Pneumonic plague affects the lungs and can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. It is considered the most serious form of plague and can be fatal without prompt antibiotic treatment.
Adding to the conflicting accounts, Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighboring Russian republic of Buryatia, reportedly confirmed that the woman died of an unspecified form of plague. Officials in the Irkutsk region had earlier described the illness only as a particularly dangerous infection.
