Nearly 200 people have been placed under medical observation in Russia’s Irkutsk region after a laboratory employee at an anti-plague research institute died of pneumonia of unknown origin, authorities and local media reported.
Russia’s public health agency Rospotrebnadzor said the woman, an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” Expanded testing had not detected microorganisms linked to her work, and the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region and the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov remained stable, the agency said.
Local media reports said 189 people were being monitored following the illness. Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighbouring Republic of Buryatia, said the woman had died from an unspecified form of plague. Other accounts identified her as a 27- or 28-year-old laboratory technician who fell ill after a work-related trip and was hospitalised with severe pneumonia symptoms before dying.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said all identified contacts had been placed under observation, showed no signs of illness and had returned negative laboratory results. No new cases of infectious disease had been reported among institute employees in recent days, according to regional updates.
The White House is monitoring reports of the suspected case and related measures, a Trump administration official told Axios, saying the administration was “aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options.”
Hospitals in Irkutsk have denied social media claims of a widespread quarantine or closure, stating they continue to operate normally. Officials have not confirmed any laboratory accident involving pathogenic material.
