The governor of Irkutsk insists that a lab assistant, who died, was killed by "pneumonia of unknown origin" while the Kremlin stressed "top professionals in this field" are working on it.
Russian officials tried on Monday to calm fears sparked by reports that a laboratory assistant in Siberia had died of plague. They insisted that the situation is under control and that post-mortem tests have allegedly found no trace of the disease.
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The alarm was raised on Friday after reports of the death of 28-year-old Daria Shipilova, a staff member at an anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk region.
The outlet "People of Baikal", citing unnamed sources close to the regional security services, reported (source in Russian) that she may have contracted pneumonic plague after a test tube was smashed.
Other Russian media wrote over the weekend about a possible link between her death and an earlier incident in the institute’s laboratory.
Mass quarantines
Following reports of the laboratory assistant’s death, more than 60 employees of the Irkutsk anti-plague institute, according to sources for Siberia.Realii (source in Russian) , were kept inside the building under isolation.
"They locked everyone in for isolation from Friday. More than 60 people – by Saturday there was not a single positive test result," said Roman (source in Russian), a relative of one institute employee.
"They sleep there – on the floor, on chairs. There are, of course, no beds. Food parcels from relatives were allowed through the checkpoint."
Local authorities also placed three city clinical hospitals, the Ivano-Matreninsky children’s hospital and the city maternity hospital under quarantine. Staff at one medical facility told the Caution_(source in Russian)_ news channel that quarantine had been imposed on all the city’s hospitals.
"People of Baikal" reported (source in Russian) that the restrictions are scheduled to last three weeks, while the outlet’s medical sources speak of a possible plague outbreak.
Relatives of one woman giving birth in Irkutsk also said (source in Russian) doctors had cited plague as the reason for the measures. The woman’s husband was refused entry to the ward, even though the family had paid for a contract for partner-assisted childbirth.
The Central District Hospital in Shelekhov, a satellite town of Irkutsk where the woman died, has also been closed for quarantine. Sources for "People of Baikal" claim (source in Russian) that since 1 October ambulances bringing people who were in contact with Shipilova for examination have been escorted by FSB officers.
At the Irkutsk Aluminium Plant (IrkAZ) in Shelekhov a mask mandate has been introduced (source in Russian).
"Better safe than sorry," wrote plant director Artem Fominykh, describing the move as a precaution.
"People of Baikal", quoting one of the patients, write that the Irkutsk Regional Psychoneurological Dispensary has today "been closed for something like quarantine".
Authorities seek to reassure locals
At first the head of neighbouring region Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov, confirmed (source in Russian) after Shipilova’s death that the young woman had died of plague, but later added the word "possibly".
On Friday the governor of Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, spoke of a case of "a particularly dangerous infection". On Saturday 3 October the authorities of Baikal region asked (source in Russian) citizens not to travel to Shelekhov because of plague, but subsequently deleted the message.
Kobzev also adjusted his stance: on Monday he said that checks carried out by a special expert commission had shown that "the cause of death was pneumonia of unknown aetiology".
Rospotrebnadzor, the national consumer and health watchdog, in turn reported (source in Russian) that tests of biomaterial from the deceased laboratory assistant had not found "microorganisms linked to her professional activity", and that no accidents involving work with pathogenic micro-organisms had been detected at the Irkutsk anti-plague institute.
Among people who had contact with Shipilova, two cases of COVID-19 and two cases of rhinovirus infection were detected; according to Rospotrebnadzor, no other infectious agents were found.
Kobzev added that following the employee’s death "no new cases of staff from the anti-plague institute seeking medical assistance have been recorded" and described the public health and epidemiological situation in Irkutsk as "stable".
"The situation remains under our control and under the control of experts," the governor concluded.
Answering questions about the case on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged journalists "to focus on official statements by Rospotrebnadzor, and not on... various rumours, various speculations".
Peskov added that "highly qualified professionals work at Rospotrebnadzor in this field".
Rospotrebnadzor has not explained why, despite negative test results, it was necessary to isolate dozens of staff at the anti-plague institute and impose restrictions on several medical facilities at once, reports (source in Russian) "Current Time".
Potentially lethal disease
Plague is a bacterial disease that can manifest in various forms, including pneumonic plague, the most contagious type of the illness. According to the World Health Organization, pneumonic plague is transmitted from person to person and is fatal if antibiotic treatment is not started in time.
As noted (source in Russian) by "Important Stories", in general the actions of the Russian authorities correspond to Red Cross recommendations for plague: identify everyone suspected of having plague, isolate them and start early antibiotic treatment.
Since 2014 Russia has occasionally recorded (source in Russian) isolated cases of plague and successfully contained them. Most incidents involve transmission of the infection from rodents (for example, marmots) during skinning.
