Neighbors Tighten Borders After Russian Plague Lab Death

Several Central Asian countries have stepped up border health measures after the death of a researcher at a Siberian plague institute, even as Russian authorities say her illness has not been linked to any pathogen she worked with, The Sun reports.

According to The Sun, Kyrgyzstan has tightened sanitary controls at its border checkpoints, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have announced preventive measures, and Mongolia already had heightened precautions in regions bordering Russia.

The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. The Sun identifies her as Daria Shipilova, 28, and reports she died October 2 after reportedly breaking a glass tube containing plague bacteria. Russian officials deny any such accident occurred. They say she developed “pneumonia of unknown aetiology.” Her name and the lab accident claim have not been confirmed by Russian authorities.

Russia’s public health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, said Sunday that testing found no microorganisms linked to her work. It has not said what caused her illness or confirmed that any outbreak is underway.

Dr. Andrew Weber, a biological weapons expert who has been inside anti-plague laboratories across the former Soviet Union, told The Sun that UK health authorities should consider screening arrivals from the region while Russia has not explained the cause of death.

“If I were a public health authority in London, I would be monitoring flights and passengers coming from the region and screening them at the airport,” Weber said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington is closely monitoring the case. The Sun reports the White House said the Trump administration “is aware of the outbreak, is monitoring it, and is evaluating possible courses of action.”