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U.S. Urges Russia to Share Plague Lab Death Details
Confirmed
In Short: The State Department is closely monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly, as details remain unconfirmed.
The State Department is closely monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly, as details remain unconfirmed. An official stressed that many details have not been confirmed and called on Russian authorities to reveal what they know.
According to Fox News, the State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case involving a 28-year-old worker at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, who died from a severe respiratory infection of unknown origin.
The official warned that the embassy in Moscow should engage with their diplomatic counterparts at an official level because there might be people in Russia who could be at risk. Pneumonic plague can be treated with common antibiotics, especially when treatment begins early.
The State Department official noted that cases of pneumonic plague occur naturally in many parts of the world. Appropriate therapy should begin as soon as plague is suspected, and patients can be treated with intravenous or oral antimicrobials depending on the severity of illness and other factors.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has not received any 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.
Travelers exhibiting signs indicative of plague infection will be immediately referred to designated infectious disease referral hospitals for isolation and clinical management.
Washington will be speaking to all of its allies and partners in the region and sharing what it knows about the incident.
The fervor around the case escalated when Axios reported that the State Department was monitoring a “suspected plague outbreak” in Russia, and Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s agency for consumer protection and public health, confirmed the death of a worker from “pneumonia of an unknown cause.”
Background
A mass quarantine has been imposed in Russia following the unexplained death of a plague researcher.
What's confirmed
- The State Department is closely monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly, as details remain unconfirmed. An official stressed that many details have not been confirmed and called on Russian authorities to reveal what they know.
- According to Fox News, the State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case involving a 28-year-old worker at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, who died from a severe respiratory infection of unknown origin.
- The official warned that the embassy in Moscow should engage with their diplomatic counterparts at an official level because there might be people in Russia who could be at risk. Pneumonic plague can be treated with common antibiotics, especially when treatment begins early.
- The State Department official noted that cases of pneumonic plague occur naturally in many parts of the world. Appropriate therapy should begin as soon as plague is suspected, and patients can be treated with intravenous or oral antimicrobials depending on the severity of illness and other factors.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has not received any 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.
- Travelers exhibiting signs indicative of plague infection will be immediately referred to designated infectious disease referral hospitals for isolation and clinical management.
- Washington will be speaking to all of its allies and partners in the region and sharing what it knows about the incident.
What's still developing
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