White House monitoring possible plague outbreak in Russia — media
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is monitoring reports about a probable case of plague in Russia's Irkutsk region and the quarantine measures introduced there.
Axios reports this, citing a White House representative.
"The administration has been briefed on the outbreak, is monitoring the situation and is assessing options for further action," the White House representative said.
According to Axios, the American administration's attention was drawn to reports of a possible plague infection and quarantine measures in the Irkutsk region.
Plague is a bacterial infectious disease that can be life-threatening without treatment. At the same time, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the disease can be treated with antibiotics provided that therapy is started in a timely manner.
Earlier, Russian and Ukrainian media reported the death of 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, who worked at a research institute for combating plague in the Irkutsk region.
According to preliminary information, on September 25 Shipilova may have broken a test tube containing the pneumonic plague pathogen. On September 29 she was hospitalized with symptoms of severe pneumonia. She died on the night of October 2.
After the woman's death, Russian authorities introduced quarantine measures at several medical institutions in the region. About 200 people who may have had contact with Shipilova were placed under medical observation.
At the same time, the governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, said that no signs of the disease had been detected in the people under observation, and the results of the tests conducted were negative.
Russian health authorities have not so far confirmed that Shipilova was infected with plague. According to the official version, she was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown etiology, and subsequent studies did not identify the infectious agent.
