The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement amid reports of a suspected pneumonic plague case in Russia. The statement shared on its social media profiles on October 6 came even as President Donald Trump said he’d speak to counterpart Vladimir Putin over the issue.
Notably, pneumonic plague is one of the most dangerous forms of plague and can be almost always fatal if untreated.
Here are five takeaways from what the CDC said.
CDC statement amid suspected pneumonic plague case
- CDC noted that it was monitoring reports of a suspected case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region of Russia. The federal agency noted that the reports said this had resulted in a death. “We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available,” they also added.
- They noted that the circumstances of this case remain unconfirmed, but added “plague is a serious bacterial disease that is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when recognized and treated early.”
- CDC noted that pneumonic plague can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets when people come in close contact.
- They noted that the most vital steps to maintain public health were ‘rapid identification and treatment of infected individuals, and monitoring of potentially exposed individuals’.
- CDC added that there is ‘no indication of a broader threat to the United States’ at this time, but noted their state of preparedness along with interagency partners. They also promised to monitor the situation closely.
US takes steps amid Russia’s pneumonic plague case reports
On Tuesday, Trump also said he had a call scheduled with Putin to discuss the suspected plague case, and said they’d speak ‘very soon’. Trump also said US intelligence officials were in ‘very deep discussions’ about the situation and would ‘be able to report about it, probably tomorrow.’
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The State Department, meanwhile, has issued a ‘do not travel’ alert for Russia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also called on Russia to release more information about the reported death there. “I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” he said, as per reports.
What happened in Russia?
Darya Shipilova, who worked at an anti-plague institute in Russia, died after reports of her possible exposure to plague bacteria. She worked at the Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, but Russian authorities have said testing has not linked her death to plague or any pathogens she handled while at work.
Meanwhile, at least five hospitals in the area are under quarantine and nearly 200 people who had contact with Shipilova were placed under medical observation as a precaution.