Suspected pneumonic plague in Irkutsk, Russia

A European Commission spokesperson told Euronews: ‘I can confirm the incident in Russia will be on the agenda of the Health Security Committee.’ The committee, which assesses serious cross-border health threats, meets on Wednesday morning in Brussels.

The committee meets on the morning of Wednesday 7 Oct.

Lyudi Baikala quoted an institute employee as saying about 200 people had been held at the institute for three days, swabbed twice a day and sleeping on chairs, and were released on Sunday 4 Oct without signing any documents; another employee said on 5 Oct that everyone had tested healthy and staff were working a normal day. Reception staff at the Shelekhov polyclinic said the hospital’s inpatient unit was closed provisionally until the end of the week. The report also said residents bought up antibiotics in Irkutsk and Shelekhov pharmacies at the weekend, but its reporter later found antibiotics in stock and no rush, and that on the night of 2 Oct workers in gas masks and protective suits disinfected the entrances of the Irkutsk apartment building where she lived.

Single source, anonymous employees. Lyudi Baikala is designated a “foreign agent” in Russia.

Lyudi Baikala reported that more Russian outlets had deleted coverage of the case: Izvestia removed articles about the case and about a reported criminal case, the Kazan edition of Argumenty i Fakty removed two articles, and the Kuzbass edition of Moskovsky Komsomolets removed a rewrite mentioning quarantines, in addition to REN TV’s deleted posts.

Single source.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: ‘I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world.’ He said the US was ‘watching it very closely, hour by hour’ and had measures available to help Russia if needed, but needed more information first. ‘Maybe there’s nothing there. Maybe it’s bigger than we thought. We don’t know.’

Speaking to reporters in Reykjavik, Iceland. Transcriptions differ slightly between outlets.

Elena Sofyina, Shelekhov district deputy mayor for social affairs, replied to Trump’s offer: ‘We can handle it ourselves.’ She said ‘The situation is under full control’, with Rospotrebnadzor, the regional team and the district administration working together, that the dangerous diagnosis had not been confirmed but protocol measures were still being followed, and that 60% of patients had already been taken off quarantine.

Posted on the Shelekhov district administration’s social media. English translation by ABC News.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about Trump’s offer of help, said: ‘It is always very good when mutual assistance is offered.’ He said: ‘To be honest, I did not hear the president’s words that he considers this a major problem for Russia.’ Asked about an autopsy, he said he worked in the presidential administration and did not have information about autopsies. He again told journalists to rely on Rospotrebnadzor, saying it gives comprehensive information and that more would be provided as its work continues.

Russian outlets give slightly different wording for the mutual assistance remark.

At a briefing in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said no cause of death had been officially confirmed and laboratory testing was reportedly underway. He read out the Russian health authorities’ reply: according to test results, ‘no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts’, and the illness ‘initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection’. WHO’s initial risk assessment put the risk at ‘moderate to low for Irkutsk, a low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WHO European region’. WHO said it was ready to support the Russian authorities if they ask. WHO also told NBC News and Newsweek that Russian officials had reported no case of plague recorded in Irkutsk.

Rospotrebnadzor’s Irkutsk regional office said: ‘A false message is being circulated online about the introduction of an enhanced sanitary and epidemiological regime and strict restrictions in the Irkutsk region.’ It said the document and information had nothing to do with official sources, that ‘No such decisions have been made at this time’, and that the situation in the region and in Irkutsk and Shelekhov was calm.

Some local media attribute the same words to the regional government press service.

Thailand’s Department of Disease Control said the risk of plague being imported into Thailand was low, with no evidence of spread beyond the affected area. Deputy director-general Direk Khampan said Thailand did not currently need extra travel or flight restrictions or special screening at international points of entry, and that its existing surveillance was sufficient.

Reported in indirect speech, so no direct quote is given.

Rospotrebnadzor said: ‘None of the contacts showed any changes in their state of health associated with infectious disease.’ It repeated that testing found two Covid-19 and two rhinovirus infections and no other pathogens, that no infectious illness had been reported among the institute’s staff over the past 10 days, and that extended tests found no microorganisms linked to her work in samples from the patient.

This may be a fuller version of the statement first reported on the evening of 5 Oct.

Indonesia’s health ministry tightened health checks at international airports and seaports, including in Bali: health declarations through the SATUSEHAT Health Pass, monitoring of travellers for symptoms, risk-based checks on arriving ships, rodent and flea surveillance, and immediate referral of suspected cases to designated infectious disease hospitals. Aji Muhawarman, head of the ministry’s communication bureau, said: ‘As of today, there has been no notification via the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point or information posted on the WHO Event Information Site (EIS) calling for specific vigilance regarding this incident.’

Rospotrebnadzor said: ‘Given the available information, laboratory test results and health status, medical monitoring has been completed for 60% of those who came into contact with the patient.’ It repeated that testing of contacts found two Covid-19 and two rhinovirus infections and no other pathogens, and said ‘The sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk Region, as well as in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov, remains calm.’ Respiratory infection levels in the region were 12.6% below the epidemic threshold, at about 16,000 cases a week with no rise over two weeks.

Rospotrebnadzor did not say how many people this is, or whether they have left hospital.

President Donald Trump told reporters the US was ‘looking at it very strongly’ and would help Russia: ‘We’ll help them.’ He called it a ‘rough disease’ and said microbes had become ‘stronger and smarter’. He said he had not yet spoken to Vladimir Putin about it. Russian state agency TASS carried his remarks; the Kremlin’s only comment remains Peskov’s call to rely on Rospotrebnadzor.

Remarks to reporters at the White House. Transcriptions differ slightly between outlets.

A US Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said: ‘While the circumstances of this reported case remain unconfirmed, plague is a serious bacterial disease that is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when recognized and treated early. At this time, there is no indication from available reporting of a broader threat to the United States.’

A spokeswoman, not named, speaking to NBC News.

The Insider reported that REN TV deleted all five of its posts about plague in Irkutsk region, and that Kommersant deleted a Telegram post and news item citing the Axios report on White House monitoring.

Single source.

Canada’s federal health minister Marjorie Michel said there was ‘no risk for Canada’. ‘We are following very closely, working with WHO and other countries to make sure that we are on top of the situation,’ she said, adding that Canada was coordinating with the US.

Kazakhstan’s health ministry said it was monitoring the situation with sanitary and quarantine controls at border crossings, had found no symptomatic arrivals and judged the import risk low. Kyrgyzstan put its sanitary and quarantine border checkpoints on heightened alert.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was ‘watching and monitoring it closely’: ‘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.’

ECDC said the plague suspicion was not yet confirmed, travel between Irkutsk and the EU/EEA is limited, plague can be treated with antibiotics readily available in Europe, and there were no reports of secondary cases or sustained human-to-human transmission.

ECDC’s website dates the statement 6 Oct and words it slightly differently: ‘there are no reports of secondary cases and no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission that would cause further spread of the disease.’

UKHSA said it was seeking information through International Health Regulations channels and that the risk from plague to the wider UK population ‘currently remains very low’.

A European Commission spokesperson said the Commission was monitoring ‘very closely’, was in touch with ECDC experts and was getting updates from Russia through WHO. No emergency meeting or measures were planned.

Reported 14:10 CEST.

Ivano-Matreninskaya children’s hospital in Irkutsk said it was working normally with no quarantine. The Moscow Times reported local media saying area hospitals were on standard schedules aside from localised precautions.

Governor Kobzev said a special expert commission had concluded the cause of death was pneumonia of unknown aetiology and that the situation was ‘under our control and under the control of experts’. In a video, he said her parents and close relatives were under observation with all results negative and he hoped they would be discharged next week. He also said there had been ‘no new cases of staff from the Anti-Plague Institute seeking medical attention’ in recent days.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists to rely on official statements from Rospotrebnadzor and not on ‘various rumours, various speculations’.

WHO said it was in contact with Russian health authorities to verify the event and the lab tests. It said no cause of death had been officially confirmed, testing was reportedly underway, and on unofficial information the risk to the general population appears low. Contacts had reportedly been identified and none had shown symptoms.

Statement to CNN reported 4 and 5 Oct; statement to Newsweek on Monday 5 Oct.

Lyudi Baikala reported that Irkutsk City Perinatal Center had admitted only pregnant patients since Friday 2 Oct, introduced masks and suspended partner births, and gave patients a health form headed as a checklist for suspected plague. It also quoted a patient saying the Irkutsk Regional Psychiatric Dispensary had limited patients to short trips outside, with a staff member saying the measures would last about three days.

Single source. Neither facility has commented.

Tajikistan’s health ministry stepped up checks at sanitary and quarantine border checkpoints: contactless temperature checks for everyone crossing, questions about symptoms, and disposable protective clothing for staff. Sayed Davlatzoda, head of its sanitary and epidemiological safety department, said that if a person suspected of having plague or another infectious disease is found, ‘the management must be notified immediately by telephone.’

Mongolia’s National Center for Zoonotic Diseases said it had asked the Irkutsk institute for official information, and that the reply from the Russian side said the suspected plague case was not confirmed, with a diagnosis of pneumonia of undetermined etiology.

Mongolian-language reports, so no direct quote is given.

The US CDC said: ‘CDC is monitoring the situation closely with the State Department and our other interagency partners. The safety and security of U.S. citizens is our highest priority.’

ABC News dates the statement to Sunday 4 Oct; NewsNation reported it on 5 Oct.

A White House official told Axios the administration was aware of the reports and was monitoring the situation and assessing options. The US State Department said it was ‘monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and our other interagency partners’ and urged Russia ‘to share accurate information quickly and openly’.

Sunday, US time.

Lyudi Baikala reported three week quarantines at Irkutsk City Clinical Hospitals No. 1, No. 3 and No. 10, Ivano-Matreninskaya children’s hospital and a city maternity hospital. Officials did not confirm this.

Rospotrebnadzor said the employee had been diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown etiology and that no microorganisms linked to her professional work were found in her samples. Its biosafety commission found no emergencies involving pathogenic microorganisms at the institute. Daily testing of contacts found two Covid-19 and two rhinovirus infections and nothing else, and it called the situation in Irkutsk region, Irkutsk and Shelekhov stable.

RIA Novosti report 12:41 Moscow time.

Uzbekistan’s Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health put border sanitary services on increased readiness, measures it said were ‘intended to prevent the possible importation and spread of dangerous infectious diseases’. It urged people to rely only on verified official information.

By Saturday no positive test had been found among the isolated institute staff, according to a relative.

Masks became compulsory at the Irkutsk Aluminium Plant in Shelekhov. The Baikalsk town administration urged residents not to travel to Shelekhov, then deleted the post. An Irkutsk city clean-up day planned for 3 October was cancelled.

Alexei Tsydenov, head of neighbouring Buryatia, posted that a woman had died of plague, then edited it to say ‘possibly’. He also said there were no plague outbreaks in Buryatia, including in areas bordering Mongolia.

Al Jazeera dates the ‘maybe’ wording to Saturday 3 October.

More than 60 institute staff were isolated inside the institute building from Friday 2 October. A relative told Siberia.Realities they were sleeping on floors and chairs.

Izvestia reported 197 people had been quarantined as contacts. Another report put it at 197 contacts identified, 189 of them hospitalised (114 in one hospital, 63 in another, 12 at the institute).

Shelekhov district mayor Maksim Modin said the hospital’s inpatient facility had been closed for quarantine, with admissions and discharges suspended in several departments and routine lab tests halted. The outpatient clinic kept working.

Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev convened an emergency regional anti-epidemic commission over a ‘suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection’. Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova flew to Irkutsk and attended. Kobzev said all identified contacts were under medical observation, showed no signs of illness and had negative test results.

The 28-year-old lab technician died in intensive care at Shelekhov district hospital.

Overnight 1 to 2 October. Some outlets give 1 October.

Quarantine was declared at the inpatient unit of Shelekhov district hospital, with admissions and discharges suspended. Lyudi Baikala reported that FSB officers began escorting ambulances taking her contacts for examination.

She was admitted to Shelekhov district hospital, near Irkutsk, with symptoms of severe pneumonia. She was later put on a ventilator.

The lab technician reportedly broke a test tube containing plague bacteria while working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. This account comes from independent outlet Lyudi Baikala and Telegram channels and has not been confirmed by Russian authorities. Colleagues told Current Time this was the last day she was at the institute.