Europe is “very closely” monitoring a suspected case of pneumonic plague in eastern Russia, following the death of a lab worker, a European Commission spokesperson said Monday.
“We are aware of the reports concerning the laboratory incident in Russia, seemingly involving a pathogen-causing plague,” European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told reporters. “We are in touch with our experts from [the] European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and we monitor very closely what is going on.”
A 28-year-old employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East fell ill and died from what Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighboring republic of Buryatia, said could be a case of pneumonic plague.
Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer watchdog, has not confirmed the exact cause of death, saying only that the employee died from “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” More than 200 people have been placed under observation following her death.
Russia's government played down concerns Monday sparked by media reports that a female scientist in Siberia might have died of exposure to the plague after a lab accident.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the state health watchdog known as Rospotrebnadzor was the "lead agency with expertise in this area," and he urged Russians to "listen to official information" from its "highly qualified professionals."
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