Russians should not believe the “rumors” circulating about a possible plague outbreak in the Irkutsk region, stated the spokesperson for the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov.
“The main competent authority in this field is Rospotrebnadzor. And it is precisely by the official statements of Rospotrebnadzor that we should be guided, without giving credence to various rumors and speculations,” said the Kremlin representative.
He also added that within Rospotrebnadzor, “highly qualified professionals in this field are working.” The authority itself mentioned that it has conducted “research and analysis” of the situation, which showed that in the Irkutsk region there is a “stable sanitary-epidemiological situation”.
Previously, Russian authorities announced that on September 29, an employee of the Irkutsk Plague Control Institute was hospitalized with severe pneumonia symptoms and passed away on the night of October 1 to 2. The press reported that she fell victim to the pneumonic plague.
According to one version, the 27-year-old woman returned from a business trip to Buryatia, where an outbreak of plague was reported at the border with Mongolia. According to another version, she accidentally broke a test tube containing the dangerous bacteria in the lab.
After the young woman’s death, the hospital in Şelehov, where she was located, was put under quarantine, and 189 people who had come into contact with the deceased were identified and hospitalized. The governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, stated that these individuals showed no signs of illness.
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