Russia says no plague detected after Siberia contact tracing

Russian authorities said no plague cases or other dangerous microorganisms were detected after health officials completed monitoring contacts of a laboratory worker who died in Siberia’s Irkutsk region.

Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said Thursday that no infectious-disease-related health problems were found among the woman’s contacts and that preventive measures had concluded. He described the woman’s illness as “community-acquired pneumonia” and said the sanitary situation in Irkutsk and nearby Shelekhov was stable.

The 28-year-old employee of an anti-plague research institute was reported by independent outlet People of Baikal to have died of plague, possibly after exposure to a broken test tube. Russian officials have denied reports involving a broken sample and have not confirmed plague as the cause of death. Earlier reports said dozens of people, possibly nearly 200, were placed under medical observation.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was monitoring the incident but assessed the risk to the United States as low. The World Health Organization, the United States and the European Union called for Russia to provide more information. Russia said it had shared what it knew and warned against spreading false information.

Plague is caused by the bacterium *Yersinia pestis*. Pneumonic plague can spread through respiratory particles but is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when detected early.