The United States stated that it is aware of reports concerning a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague that occurred in the Irkutsk region of Russia. A State Department spokesperson informed the Europa Press agency that American authorities are monitoring the situation in close collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other interagency partners.
However, North American authorities emphasized that there is little confirmed information about the incident. For this reason, they urged Moscow to provide accurate data quickly and transparently.
The same source clarified that plague is a known illness treatable with common antibiotics, provided treatment is initiated in a timely manner, adding that cases of this type occur naturally in various regions of the planet.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities have already communicated that the epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk area remains stable after the adoption of several emergency measures in recent days.
Due to the involvement of the researcher, extensive epidemiological measures were implemented to manage the situation. These measures include identifying as many individuals as possible who may have been in contact with the scientist, according to details provided by the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).