Laboratory worker Darya Shipilova died on 2 October after falling ill at an anti-plague institute in Irkutsk. Russia has reported pneumonia of unknown cause. US officials say they are watching the case.
The United States is monitoring the death of a Russian laboratory worker who became ill at an anti-plague institute in Irkutsk, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday. Darya Shipilova, 28, died on the night of 2 October at a hospital in nearby Shelekhov, the Guardian reported.
Rubio said Washington did not see cause for alarm but did see cause to keep watch. President Donald Trump told reporters the United States was looking very strongly at the case and had not discussed it with the Kremlin, BBC News reported.
How she became ill is not established. Unconfirmed Russian media reports have suggested a laboratory mishap or a field visit to an area where plague occurs in rodents. Officials have not confirmed those accounts. Alexey Tsydenov, head of neighbouring Buryatia, first wrote that she had died of plague, then edited the post to say she had possibly died of the disease, the Guardian said.
Rospotrebnadzor said she died of pneumonia of unknown aetiology. Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev, quoted by the BBC, said no micro-organisms linked to her work were found in biological samples, that no other institute staff had sought care since the death, and that an inspection found no emergency at the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East.
Local media reported a lockdown at the institute; that account is not the watchdog's public finding. No secondary confirmed cases were reported in the BBC and Guardian accounts.
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- Rubio said the case was not cause for alarm but was cause to keep watch.
- A regional leader first attributed the death to plague, then revised that to a possible plague death.