US CDC says it is monitoring suspected plague case in Russia's Irkutsk region

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday, 6 October, it is "aware of and closely monitoring" a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in Russia, according to Al Jazeera. In a statement on social media, the agency said: "while the circumstances of this reported case remain unconfirmed, plague is a serious bacterial disease that is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when recognized and treated early." The CDC said the incident posed little risk to the US.

The case follows the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old woman who worked at an anti-plague laboratory in Siberia, Al Jazeera reported. Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital in the Irkutsk region and are tracing the laboratory technician's contacts, according to Al Jazeera. Russian media reports say nearly 200 people have been placed under medical observation, Al Jazeera and CNBC reported.

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of Boston University's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told CNBC that the World Health Organization says the incident presents a low risk globally of pathogen spread and a moderate risk for the nearby area. Dr. Raj Panjabi, a Harvard University physician and former White House biosecurity director, told CNBC that "the risk to the wider public is uncertain" and that he "wouldn't call it low, medium or high because we don't know the information to answer that." CNBC reported that Russian authorities have not publicly shared pathogen testing or genetic sequencing details.

Alexei Tsydenov, head of the nearby Republic of Buryatia, said in an October 2 post on the Russian social media platform VK that a woman in the Irkutsk region "may" have died of plague, according to CNBC. Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's public health watchdog, initially said on Sunday that the laboratory staffer died from "pneumonia of unknown [cause]," CNBC reported. CNBC reported that Rospotrebnadzor said on Tuesday that, beyond Covid-19 and a virus that causes the common cold, "no other infectious disease pathogens were detected" among people tested so far.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Iceland on Tuesday that "it's incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world," Al Jazeera reported. Rubio said the US has "measures" available to help Russia if the situation becomes more serious but needed to know more first. Al Jazeera reported that the Trump administration said it is "closely" watching the incident, which Russia has said is under control.

Dr. Ashish Jha, who coordinated former US President Joe Biden's Covid-19 response, wrote on X that it is unlikely Shipilova was the only person who contracted pneumonic plague, adding: "We need to understand exactly what has happened." Pneumonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, usually found in small mammals and their fleas, according to Al Jazeera, citing the WHO. The WHO says plague is highly infectious, spreads through respiratory particles and can be fatal if not treated early; Panjabi told CNBC it can cause pneumonia-like illness, lead to hospitalization or death, and is treatable with antibiotics when identified early.