Did a Russian lab worker die from pneumonic plague? What we know — and don't know | CBC News

Dozens quarantined, but Russia says no indication 28-year-old's death connected to pathogens she worked with

Nearly 200 quarantined after researcher at Russian plague laboratory dies

An unnerving story has emerged from southeastern Russia involving the death of 28-year-old woman from pneumonia and fears that she may have been exposed to a form of plague at the lab where she worked.

Few details are confirmed. Russian authorities say there is currently no evidence that the illness was connected to any of the pathogens she worked with at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

People have been quarantined at the hospital where she died last week; many others who came in contact with her were put under medical supervision, according to Anna Popova, Russia's public health agency.

Here's what we know and what we don't know about the situation in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, the lab worker who died and what Russian and other global officials are saying about the case.

Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that the employee was "diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown etiology."

The lab, which was established under the former Soviet Union in 1934, carries out scientific research on plague control, vaccine development and epidemic prevention, as well as work on other dangerous infectious diseases like cholera, brucellosis and anthrax.

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Russian-language reports say that Shipilova went to a hospital in Shelekhov, about 20 kilometres southwest of Irkutsk, days before her death.

"Importantly, over the past few days, no new cases of staff from the Anti-Plague Institute seeking medical attention have been identified," Kobzev said.

Bubonic plague, the most common form, causes buboes — painful, inflammed lymph nodes near the site of a flea bite. Symptoms usually come on after three to seven days, and can include fever, chills, headache and extreme exhaustion.