Wednesday, December 15, 2021
A Siberian lab worker died of suspected pneumonic plague after a test tube accident, and nearly 200 contacts are under observation as the US monitors the case.
A laboratory technician at a plague research institute in Irkutsk, Siberia, has died of a suspected plague infection. Reports say the 28-year-old broke a test tube holding live bacteria while working on September 25. She was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on September 29 and died two days later. Russian officials have given mixed accounts. A regional leader called it plague. The national health agency has described the illness as pneumonia.
Nearly 200 people who had contact with her were placed under medical observation as of October 2. More than 100 of them were isolated in hospital wards. Officials quarantined the district hospital in Shelekhov and canceled public events in Irkutsk. Early tests on her contacts came back negative. That count may still change as tracing continues. In Washington, the White House said it is aware of the case and is monitoring it.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It usually spreads through the bites of infected fleas. The pneumonic form infects the lungs and can pass between people through coughed droplets. That is why contact tracing moved so fast here. Experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine describe this as a lab accident involving one person, not an outbreak. They rate wider spread as unlikely. Plague also responds to common antibiotics when it is caught early. If the line between an outbreak and an epidemic feels fuzzy, this case is a good one to learn on.
Plague is not only a Russian story. The United States averages about seven human cases a year. Most come from rural parts of the West, where the bacteria live in wild rodents and their fleas. Keep pets on flea control if you live, hike, or camp in that country. Leave sick or dead rodents alone. If a fever, chills, or swollen and painful lymph nodes follow time outdoors there, tell your doctor where you have been. Bites can carry real disease, as the Bourbon virus showed this year. Know your local risks. Stay prepared, not scared.
