Three Russian hospitals and hundreds of people have been placed under quarantine following a fatal pneumonic plague outbreak, amid claims of a government cover-up.
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hospitals → place → up
Darya Shipilova, 28, is said to have been working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia when she was exposed to the pathogen.
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she → say → pathogen
She was admitted to hospital on September 29 and placed on a ventilator but died two days later.
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She → admit → ventilator
Concerns about a potential spread of the disease – which has a near-100 per cent death rate if left untreated – led to 200 people she came into contact with being quarantined.
Three hospitals in the region have also been placed under secure measures.
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hospitals → have → measures
Fatalities from pneumonic plague drop to around 17 per cent if carriers are identified within 24 hours and treated with antibiotics.
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carriers → drop → antibiotics
But there are reports that the drugs are running out in the region as terrified residents overload pharmacies and medical facilities with demands for supplies.
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residents → be → supplies
There have also been claims that the Russian authorities have put up a smokescreen to hide exactly what happened.
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what → put → smokescreen
Lab worker Darya Shipilova, 28, died in Siberia of pneumonic plague after breaking a test tube
Mikhal Favorov, a senior Russian epidemiologist, dismissed the broken test tube explanation, according to the Moscow Times.
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Favorov → die → Times
He was reported to have said: ‘It’s laughable.
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It → report → ?
Someone working at the Anti-Plague Institute in Irkutsk wears a protective anti-plague suit.
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Someone → work → suit
‘If you break a test tube, the likelihood of infection is actually very low.
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likelihood → break → infection
In short, it doesn’t matter to the general public – they’ll believe the “broken test tube” story.’
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they → matter → story
He added: ‘It’s absolutely hair-raising.
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It → add → ?
We will not be told what really happened.’
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what → tell → ?
Nezygar, a popular, anonymously run political Telegram channel, likened the situation to the outbreak of Covid-19, which the Chinese blamed on a wet market rather than a mishap at the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology.
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Chinese → run → Virology
Ms Shipilova told medical staff she had accidentally broken the test tube holding live bacteria, according to news outlet Lyudi Baikala.
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she → tell → Baikala
She then became unwell while on a field expedition with colleagues in Buryatia, beside Russia’s eastern border with Mongolia.
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She → become → Mongolia
She was transferred to Shelekhov Hospital with severe pneumonia before succumbing to the disease.
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She → transfer → disease
Health officials have been pictured in the Irkutsk region wearing hazmat suits amid the plague response, which includes a mask decree
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which → picture → mask
The hospital is among the medical facilities to be placed under quarantine.
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hospital → place → quarantine
The others have taken in those who came into contact with Ms Shipilova.
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who → take → Shipilova
Pneumonic plague causes a severe lung infection, with symptoms including fever, shortness of breath and coughing up blood which typically begin to show between three to seven days after contact.
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which → cause → contact
There was no immediate statement from Russia's health ministry but Alexei Tsydenov, governor of Russia's Buryatia region, said in a social media post that a woman in the neighbouring Irkutsk region had 'died of plague'.
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woman → be → plague
Russia's chief state sanitary doctor Anna Popova rushed 2,600 miles from Moscow to Siberia to take personal charge of the outbreak, according to reports, while a mask decree has been implemented in Irkutsk.
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decree → rush → Irkutsk
Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said: 'We held an extraordinary meeting of the regional sanitary and anti-epidemic commission with the participation of Russia's Chief State Sanitary Doctor Anna Popova.
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We → say → Doctor
'The reason was information that had emerged about a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infectious disease in a resident of the region.'
Mr Kobzev, who cancelled all public meetings across the region, earlier refused to name the suspected disease.
'
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who → emerge → disease
All identified contacts have been placed under medical observation,' he said.
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he → identify → observation
The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute was founded in 1934
'
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Institute → found → 1934
As of today, none of the contacts has any signs of illness and their laboratory test results are negative.
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results → have → illness
Maxim Modin, mayor of the nearby town of Shelekhov, told residents 'not to spread rumours or unreliable information – use only official sources'.
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Modin → tell → sources
He added: 'It is too early to draw final conclusions – we will wait for the specialists' findings.
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we → add → findings
Pneumonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
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plague → cause → bacterium
It is transferred as a result of breathing in airborne droplets from another person.
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It → transfer → person
Septicaemic plague infects the blood and results from flea bites or handing infected animals.
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plague → infect → animals
Symptoms include internal bleeding and tissue turning black due to necrosis.
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tissue → include → necrosis
The third is the bubonic plague - also known as the Black Death and notoriously responsible for the Great Plague of 1665 which killed about a fifth of London’s inhabitants.
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which → know → inhabitants
It is also caused by flea bites and causes fever, chills and painful, swollen lymph nodes known as buboes.
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It → cause → buboes
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