Russian woman’s death sparks pneumonic plague fears

A woman reportedly died after contracting pneumonia of an “unknown” cause in Russia, but some experts say there is no immediate cause for alarm over the potential spread of the bacteria.

Unconfirmed media reports suggested she may have died of pneumonic plague, a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.

Simon Clarke, an expert from the University of Reading, said the bacteria would not spread from Russia to the U.S. because there are “antibiotics to stop it from spreading.”

Another expert, Dr. Glenn Wortmann, said, “With pneumonic plague, it can be spread by coughing since the infection is in your lungs. If you cough, you can spread it to another person, but that doesn’t travel very far. And so you really need to be in face-to-face contact with that person to get pneumonic plague.”

Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring contacts of an employee at a plague research institute in Siberia who contracted pneumonia of an “unknown” cause. Local state TV said the woman died last week.

Russian authorities said they found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with. But the case has raised alarm in Russia after unconfirmed media reports suggested she might have died of pneumonic plague — a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.

The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, southeastern Siberia. A state TV station in Irkutsk reported Monday that she died last week in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside Irkutsk.

In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was watching the situation with concern and said he would be willing to help, though he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation.