The death of a 28-year-old woman who worked in an anti-plague laboratory in Russia is raising concerns about what caused her illness.The woman died Friday, according to the World Health Organization, with no cause of death confirmed.
A Russian official said the woman died of pneumonia of “undetermined” origin and did not link her death to her work at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East.The U.S.
State Department said, however, that it’s monitoring reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region, in southeastern Siberia, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Key details remain unknown, including whether the woman was infected with plague at all and, if so, whether it was naturally occurring plague or bacteria studied in the lab.Scientists also don’t know how quickly her illness progressed and what treatment she received.
Nearly 200 people that came into contact with the woman are under precautionary medical observation, according to Russian media.“Maybe it’s going to come out that she died from something unrelated and it was just a coincidence” that she worked in an anti-plague lab, said Lisa Morici, a microbiologist and immunologist in the Tulane University School of Medicine.Dr.Ashish Jha, the White House’s former Covid response coordinator, told NBC News in an interview, “If there were weapons programs, biological weapons programs in these labs, that would be much more concerning to me.”“We need to understand that now,” he added.
The situation is still rapidly unfolding.But here’s what we know about the pneumonic plague, how it spreads and how dangerous it is.
What is plague?Plague is an infection caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria.Known as the “Black Death” during the 14th century, the plague triggered several global pandemics over centuries before the discovery of antibiotics.It presents in three main forms: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic, ac...