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While Russia continues to deny a plague outbreak, neighboring countries have already taken action.
Following the death of a 28-year-old female employee of the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have strengthened border health and quarantine measures.
Russia's latest conclusion remains that the illness is "pneumonia of unknown cause," and no plague has been publicly detected in the 197 contacts identified so far.
The deceased was named Daria Shipilova, and worked at the Irkutsk Siberian and Far Eastern Anti-Plague Research Institute, which is under the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare of the Russian Federation.
She was hospitalized on September 29 with severe pneumonia and died on October 2.
The incident quickly spiraled out of control because her workplace was not an ordinary laboratory, but an institution that specializes in researching highly dangerous infectious diseases such as plague.
Russian local media later published an extremely frightening version: Shipilova broke a test tube containing live plague pathogens while working in the laboratory on September 25 and subsequently fell ill.
This claim has not yet been confirmed by the Russian health authorities.
Following expanded testing, the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare stated that Shipilova's official diagnosis remains "pneumonia of unknown cause," and no microorganisms related to her occupational activities were detected in her biological samples.
The Russian side also stated that the expert committee found no evidence of any incidents involving the handling of pathogenic microorganisms at the institute.
However, the measures taken locally were not lenient.
Following Shipilova's death, 197 people who had been in contact with her were placed under medical observation. Russian local media initially reported that several hospitals restricted access, and research institute staff were also quarantined.
The Sherekhov aluminum plant near Irkutsk has even reinstated the requirement for masks.
Anna Popova, Russia's top public health official, traveled to Irkutsk to attend a special meeting on the prevention and control of "suspected particularly dangerous infectious diseases."
The leader of the neighboring Buryat Republic, Alexei Tsydenov, initially wrote directly "the woman who died of the plague," but later changed the wording to "possibly died of the plague."
By October 5, the Russian government had further downplayed the rumors.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said that expanded laboratory testing did not find any pathogens related to Shipilova's professional activities, and her cause of death is still listed as "pneumonia of unknown cause."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also publicly stated that day, urging the outside world not to follow rumors about a "plague outbreak" circulating online, but to rely on information officially released by the Russian health authorities.
But Russia's neighbors clearly did not wait for the final conclusion.
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Health announced that health quarantine checkpoints nationwide have been upgraded. Passengers, vehicles, and goods transiting the country will be subject to stricter epidemiological monitoring.
Tajikistan's health authorities have also confirmed that they have strengthened national border health and quarantine measures, with a focus on preventing the importation of particularly dangerous infectious diseases.
The Kazakh Ministry of Health stated that it is monitoring the situation in Irkutsk, and no cases of plague have been confirmed on the Russian side so far. Kazakhstan has assessed the risk of imported cases as "low," but health quarantine measures have been implemented at border crossings.
Uzbekistan raised its health and epidemic prevention department's alert level earlier, with the same aim of preventing the importation of particularly dangerous infectious diseases from abroad.
There's a place here that's easily swayed by social media.
The "pneumonic plague" mentioned in the English report is not "pneumonia plague"; the accurate Chinese name is "pneumonic plague".
Plague is caused by Yersinia pestis. The most common form is bubonic plague; if the bacteria invade the lungs, it can cause pneumonic plague. The biggest difference between pneumonic plague and bubonic plague is that the former can be transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets produced by infected individuals, which is why public health departments are particularly concerned.
However, "the existence of suspected pneumonic plague" and "the outbreak of pneumonic plague in Russia" are two completely different things.
As of the evening of October 5, publicly available evidence could only confirm a few things:
° a female employee of the anti-plague research institute had died;
° Russia had initiated preventative measures as a "suspected particularly dangerous infectious disease";
° approximately 197 contacts were under medical observation; and
° at least four Central Asian countries had implemented border control measures to prevent the importation of the virus.
What remains uncertain is precisely the most frightening question: whether she was actually infected with the plague, and whether the test tube supposedly containing plague bacteria was broken.
There's another layer of background to this mystery.
The vast grasslands and mountains bordering Russia, Mongolia, and northwest China naturally contain plague foci. Just this September, the Russian health authorities reported a high level of plague activity in animals in the Altai region near the Mongolian border and organized disease control personnel to conduct monitoring.
Therefore, the fact that Central Asian countries are now strengthening border health checks does not mean that they have confirmed the outbreak of plague in Russia.
What they are doing is something else entirely: conclusions can wait, but border epidemic prevention cannot.
To date, Russia has not released any laboratory results proving that Shipilova was infected with plague, nor has it released any reports on the pathogen strains detected in the so-called "ruptured test tube."
Source:
Link: https://www.163.com/dy/article/L8GQQJKP05528J01.html
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