Unconfirmed reports have suggested there was a laboratory accident.

Roughly 200 people are under medical observation, several hospitals are under quarantine, and dozens are in isolation in Russia following the unexplained death of an infectious disease researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia, in the town of Shelekhov, according to early reports of the situation on Sunday and Monday.

Researcher Darya Shipilova reportedly died last week from pneumonia of “unknown” cause, according to Rospotrebnadzor, a Russian public health agency.

  • BauerBender@lemmy.world
    40·
    6 hours ago

    Y. pestis can cause several forms of plague: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic—the latter of which can be aggressive and quickly fatal. However, the pathogen is generally easily treated by antibiotics. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendsthat anyone exposed to the pathogen should undergo an immediate seven-day post-exposure antibiotic prophylaxis treatment. Additionally, though pneumonic plague is spread via respiratory particles from coughing, it is not considered highly infectious; it requires direct, close contact for the bacteria to be transmitted.

    I’ll probably get downvoted, but don’t buy out the TP yet.