Russian lab worker’s suspected plague death leaves some questions
The unexplained death of a lab technician at a Russian research institute handling plague bacteria has raised questions among infectious disease experts, who say the circumstances surrounding the case are unusual and key details remain unanswered.
According to local reports, some 200 people have been put under medical observation, or quarantined, in the Siberian area of Irkutsk. Other reports say an incident in the lab dealing with the bacteria preceded the fatality. CNBC has not been able to independently verify these reports.
While health authorities around the world say the risk of a wider outbreak appears low, experts told CNBC that the reported circumstances of the death are difficult to reconcile with the stringent safeguards normally used when working with the deadly pathogen.
Javier Pizarro-Cerda, head of the Yersinia Research Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, told CNBC he was “very surprised” by the report coming out of Russia, since people working with plague normally take serious protective measures because of the dangers of exposure.
“You work with a full body suit. You work with masks. You work with gloves. So even if you break a tube, normally you should be protected,” he said. In Russia, there’s also a vaccine for plague. However, it doesn’t meet the standards expected elsewhere and offers low, transient protection, Pizarro-Cerda added.
A fatal disease
Plague is an often fatal disease with very rapid progression. The fatality rate of pneumonic plague is nearly 100% if left untreated, and about 50% if treated.
Several experts on the Yersinia pestis bacterium that causes plague told CNBC that isolation and monitoring of anyone who had been in contact with the diseased person is a normal and sensible strategy.
As for the origin of the suspected case of pneumonic plague, Yersinia pestis exists naturally in animal reservoirs, especially among rodents, but it is highly unlikely the employee would have contracted the disease elsewhere, according to Pizarro-Cerda.
The person would have had to visit a very specific place, been in contact with contaminated people or a sick animal in a wild environment, said Pizarro-Cerda.
Reservoirs of Yersinia pestis exist on every continent except Oceania, however, that does not mean human cases occur everywhere those reservoirs exist.
Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said the situation is under control and that measures have been implemented in response to the case. It also said that “based on the results of extensive testing, no microorganisms associated with the patient’s professional activities were detected in the patient’s sample.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement to CNBC that the cause of death is still unconfirmed and testing is reportedly underway. All of the patient’s contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness, the WHO added.
Key questions remain
It’s not clear why dozens…
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