What is plague and how dangerous is it?
Authorities are investigating the death of a Russian lab technician at a plague research center in Siberia, though officials claim the public health risk is low. The article provides context on the nature of the plague and how it is transmitted.
Why it matters
Public health concerns regarding laboratory safety and infectious diseases are of global importance.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP is looking “very strongly” at the case of a Russian lab technician who died at a plague research centre in Irkutsk, Siberia.
The death has been announced as “pneumonia of undetermined aetiology” . Irkutsk’s governor said, “No microorganisms linked to the woman’s work had been found in her biological samples.”
A state TV station in Irkutsk reported on 5 October that she died the previous week in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town outside Irkutsk.
Unconfirmed reports suggested the woman fell ill either after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or following a field trip to a region where plague is found in wild rodents.
Russian authorities are reported to have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring contacts of an employee at a plague research institute.
Also covering this story
15 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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