Russia pneumonic plague: New point of conflict emerges between Moscow based Kremlin and Donald Trump administration? All you need to know

News of Russia pneumonic plague and subsequent social media claims have drawn sharp reactions from both authorities in the United States of America and Moscow based Kremlin. All the debate is surrounding the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute and the nearby quarantined hospital in Shelekhov, after a worker at the laboratory was reported dead by local state TV. A nearby hospital has been quarantined, according to reports by local state TV.

Local media named the woman as Darya Shipilova, an employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. There were conflicting reports about how and where the laboratory worker, whose age was given as 28, had fallen ill, but the authorities said she had died of pneumonia of as-yet unestablished origin.

The death has sparked public health fears on social media, but the authorities said on Monday the situation was under control.


Plague Symptoms, Treatment

Plague is a bacterial disease that can occur in several forms, including pneumonic plague, the most contagious type. Pneumonic plague can be fatal if not treated early, according to the World Health Organization.

Plague is endemic to Siberia, location of the ​first known prehistoric human outbreak, as the bacterium that causes it, Yersinia pestis, is present among the ​small wild mammals in its vast wilderness and their fleas. It is rare for Russians ⁠to fall ill with plague, however, though cases in other parts of the world - notably Africa - occur ​every year.

Russia Standpoint on Plague

Russian officials have downplayed reports that a laboratory technician in Siberia had died of plague, insisting the situation was under control and that post-mortem tests had not found traces of the disease.

But Irkutsk regional governor Igor Kobzev said Monday that a special expert commission inspection in the region had found that "the cause of death was pneumonia of undetermined etiology".

He said on Telegram that Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor had determined, following tests, that "no microorganisms linked to the young woman's professional work were found in her biological samples".

He added that there had been "no new cases of staff from the anti-plague institute seeking medical attention" since the woman's death. Kobzev said the sanitary-epidemiological situation in Irkutsk was 'stable'. "The situation remains under our control and that of the experts," Kobzev said.

Asked about the situation on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to "rely on Rospotrebnadzor's official statements rather than ... rumours and speculations".

Russia's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, told state media the institute had not found evidence of any accidents involving the handling of pathogens after rumours spread on social media that the woman had dropped a test tube containing live bacteria. Nevertheless, Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Siberia for an emergency meeting over the weekend.

USA Reaction on Pneumonic Plague

The United States is closely monitoring the case involving a laboratory worker who died at a plague research institute in Siberia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

"We're watching and monitoring it closely," Rubio told reporters before leaving for a trip to Europe. "I don't think it's cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause just to keep an eye on it," Rubio said.

There were conflicting reports about how and where the laboratory worker, whose age was given as 28, had fallen ill, but the authorities said she had died of pneumonia.

Rubio, citing what Russians have released about the death, said it seemed there was a worker in the lab who was infected and there was concern the disease may have spread internally.

"There's very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously," he said. "But like anything else, something like that gets out, it just quickly spreads," Rubio said.