Russia tightens hospital quarantine after plague research worker died

A female laboratory worker at a plague research centre in Eastern Russia has died after contracting a mystery respiratory infection.

The case has raised alarm, with authorities tightening quarantine.

Two people who came into contact with the deceased tested positive for a virus that causes the common cold, while two others tested positive for COVID-19.

The US says it is closely monitoring the risk of potential spread.

28-year-old Darya Shipilova who worked at Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East became ill at work and later died in the nearby town of Shelekhov on the night of October 2.

Authorities say the woman was diagnosed with "pneumonia of unknown etiology," or origin, insisting there's no evidence that her illness was caused by any micro-organisms associated with her professional work.

On Monday, a local TV station reports the regional hospital where she died has been placed under quarantine.

The hospital no longer admits or discharges patients, nor does it operate the outpatient clinic, according to Mayor Maxim Modin. Routine testing at its lab also comes to a halt.

Everyone who came into contact with Shipilova was under medical supervision.

Head of the public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, which is implementing a "full range of anti-epidemic measures," flew to Irkutsk for meetings with the governor and other officials on Friday.

Earlier, unconfirmed media reports circulating in Russia suggest the woman probably died of pneumonic plague, which the World Health Organization says is a less common but severe form of plague.

To this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says one should namely be guided by the official statements of Rospotrebnadzor rather than various rumours and speculations.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump notes he's watching the situation with concern, while a medical expert in Maryland says the bacteria will not spread from Russia to America due to antibiotics that stop it from spreading.

Dr. Glenn Wortmann from MedStar Washington Hospital Center says: "With pneumonic plague it can be spread by coughing since the infections 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 face-to-face contact with that person to get pneumonic plague."

"The chance of this spreading widely in Russia and then extending here to the US will not happen, not with this type of bacteria because it's not spread easily and we have antibiotics to stop it from spreading."