CDC Director Says US Is Monitoring Travelers From Siberia After Death of Russian Lab Worker Raises Plague Concerns
CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said Wednesday that the agency is coordinating with federal departments to monitor travelers arriving from Siberia following the October 2 death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. Russian authorities have not confirmed that Shipilova was infected with Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes pneumonic plague, and say her death was from pneumonia of unknown origin. Schwartz said the threat to the United States is "extremely low."
Single source · Not corroborated
CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said Wednesday at a Wall Street Journal health forum that U.S. agencies are tracking the situation in Siberia following Shipilova's death, which has prompted speculation about a possible pneumonic plague outbreak in Russia. Schwartz said the CDC is working with the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Defense, among other federal agencies, to monitor potential arrivals from the region.
Schwartz noted that approximately 200 flights arrive in the United States from the Siberian region, typically landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. "We have a port health station set up in JFK so that we can do appropriate surveillance and screening if anyone from that area comes into the United States," she said. She emphasized that pneumonic plague, while serious, is treatable with common antibiotics available to most U.S. physicians.
Russian authorities placed roughly 200 people who had contact with Shipilova under quarantine, according to Euronews. Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev said on Thursday that preventive measures had been completed and approximately 5,000 laboratory tests had detected no pathogens, according to the Associated Press. Russian officials have maintained that no evidence linked her illness to pathogens she worked with at the institute.