Russia plague outbreak fears grow after lab worker’s death: Why pneumonic plague is the most dangerous form and how it spreads

The sudden death of a lab technician who worked at a plague research institute in Siberia has triggered fear about bubonic plague outbreak in Russia. The woman Darya Shipilova, who was 28, died last week, two days after falling ill. Amid the growing fear of plague, the World Health Organization has asked Russia for more information on the death of the worker. This is because Pneumonic plague is the most dangerous form of plague and is almost always fatal unless if left untreated, according to Axios.

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What is Pneumonic plague?

According to a BBC report, pneumonic plague is a really serious lung infection, often described as the most virulent form of plague. There are two other types of plague: bubonic, which affects the lymph nodes; and septicaemic, which affects the blood. Pneumonic plague is a rapidly progressing lung infection caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacterium that caused the Black Death.


"Pneumonic plague is the most serious form of the disease and is the only form of plague that can be spread from person to person," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pneumonic plague can also be transmitted through respiratory droplets expelled when a person, or an infected animal, sneezes or coughs. Person-to-person transmission happens after close exposure to a coughing patient, per the CDC.

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What are the symptoms of pneumonic plague?

The symptoms of pneumonic plague can start within one to three days after inhaling infected air droplets, according to the CDC. Its main symptoms include: fever, headache, weakness, quickly developing pneumonia, shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and bloody or watery mucus. Several types of antibiotics can be used to tackle any form of the plague, including pneumonic, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms can also include shortness of breath, chest pain, and often coughing up blood. It's regarded as being more serious but less common than bubonic plague.

How does pneumonic plague spread?

You can catch pneumonic plague by getting bitten by an infected flea or handling an infected animal. However, human-to-human transmission of pneumonic plague is also possible through coughing infected droplets into the air, which are then breathed in by another person, although this normally requires quite close contact. You can also develop it if you have had septicaemic plague and the infection then spreads into the lungs.

Some theories suggest that pneumonic plague was one of the main drivers behind what is known as the Black Death, the massive outbreak that killed millions of people across Europe in the 14th Century, according to BBC. "Plague is not a historical disease. It remains endemic in rodent populations across Africa, Asia and the Americas, and human cases occur every year, including outbreaks of the pneumonic form Diagnostics, vaccine development and surveillance for antibiotic resistance all require laboratories that hold and study the live organism, Dr Zania Stamataki, Associate Professor of Viral Immunology at the University of Birmingham, told the BBC.

What's the treatment?

The WHO says that pneumonic plague has a very short incubation period, sometimes as less as 24 hours. If it isn't diagnosed and then treated quickly, experts warn it is nearly always fatal. But the good news is that plague responds well to antibiotics if the treatment starts early.

Dr Malick Gibani, Clinical Associate Professor in Bacterial Vaccinology at Imperial College London, told the BBC, "Pneumonic plague is a very severe manifestation of plague disease. Some textbooks will say it has 100% mortality if left untreated, and it's difficult to have accurate figures in the modern age. It is treatable with antibiotics, particularly if started early. That's why anyone with high-risk potential exposure might be offered post-exposure prophylaxis with antibiotics and/or quarantine."

Trump to speak to Putin on Russia plague outbreak

US President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he has a call scheduled with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss the suspected plague case and would speak with him "very soon." Asked what US intelligence was saying about the situation, Trump said officials were in "very deep discussions" and that "we'll be able to report about it, probably tomorrow." Trump acknowledged Monday that he is aware of the situation. "We just heard about it," Trump told reporters Monday, but said he hadn't spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about it yet.

"We'll help them," Trump said. "We'll help them as much as we can."

Russian authorities said testing has not linked her death to plague or to pathogens she handled at work. However, at least five hospitals in the area remain in quarantine and almost 200 people who had contact with Shipilova have been placed under medical observation as a precautionary measure.

"We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available," the CDC said in an X post Tuesday. "At this time, there is no indication of a broader threat to the United States, but CDC and our interagency partners are prepared and will continue to monitor the situation closely."