Plague Outbreak in Irkutsk Region: 189 Hospitalized After Lab Worker's Death

A 27-year-old employee of an anti-plague institute in Irkutsk region, Russia, died from pneumonic plague, leading to the hospitalization of 189 people who had contact with her. The woman, Dar'ia Sh., was studying the plague bacterium and accidentally broke a test tube containing it, infecting herself. She was hospitalized on September 29 and died on October 1. A quarantine was imposed on the hospital, and those who had contact with her were placed under observation. Some of the hospitalized individuals have shown symptoms, but it's too early to confirm mass infection.