The United States are closely monitoring the case of a Russian laboratory worker who died last week after a reported accident at a plague research institute in Siberia.
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said on Monday before leaving for a trip to Europe that they are watching and monitoring it closely and he does not think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus.
Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee at the anti-plague institute in the city of Irkutsk, became ill at work.
She died two days later on the night of 2nd October at a regional hospital in the nearby town of Shelekhov.
It remains unclear how she became unwell but unconfirmed reports in Russian media have suggested Shipilova may have been infected after a mishap at the laboratory.
Officials have not publicly confirmed that account.
Local media have reported that the institute has subsequently been locked down, with staff forced to sleep on the floor and on chairs.
One relative, Roman, told the news portal Siberia.Realities. that they have been isolating everybody since Friday and there were more than 60 people.
He said family members were allowed to drop off food at a checkpoint while tests were carried out inside the building.
Similar quarantine restrictions have been placed on several other hospitals in and around the city.
Source: The Guardian
