White House Monitors Suspected Plague Case in Russia | Today’s news
The White House is monitoring reports of a suspected plague case in Russia’s Siberian region of Irkutsk after the death of a plague research worker led to nearly 200 contacts reportedly being put under surveillance.
“I don’t think it’s a cause for alarm, but it’s a reason to focus and a reason to just watch — and we’re doing that,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Monday. Rubio added that the administration is aware of the information provided by the Russian government.
Axios first reported that the administration is looking into the case.
The Trump administration “is informed, monitoring the outbreak and assessing options,” Axios reported, citing an administration official.
The 28-year-old lab worker died last week after contracting severe pneumonia. Russian media said she may have been exposed to the bacteria that causes pneumonic plague after a test tube broke at the institute. Russia’s public health agency Rospotrebnadzor disputed the account.
The woman was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause, and extensive tests did not reveal any microorganisms linked to her work, Interfax quoted the agency as saying. The expert commission sent to the institute did not find any accidents with pathogenic microorganisms, which confirms the findings of safety monitors, she said.
Nearly 200 people who may have had contact with the woman have been placed under medical supervision, the Moscow Times reported. Rospotrebnadzor said the contacts were undergoing daily laboratory testing and that two cases of Covid-19 and two rhinovirus infections had been detected, according to Interfax. It said no other infectious diseases were found and none of the contacts developed signs of an infectious disease.
The epidemiological situation remained stable, Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev told Axios. Russian authorities have not confirmed that the woman had the plague.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Pneumonic plague can spread between people through respiratory droplets and can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed promptly, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With help from Jessica Nix.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
