American officials say they are keeping a close watch on a suspected plague case in Russia after a laboratory researcher in Siberia died from what has been described as an unknown infection, according to Sky News.
The worker was employed at a plague research facility, and dozens of people have since been placed in quarantine, CNN reports. The Moscow Times puts the number of people under observation at nearly 200.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is monitoring the case of the lab worker who possibly died of plague in Siberia, The Guardian reports. The European Union is also following the suspected outbreak very closely, according to Euronews.
The reports differ on how the death is characterized. Sky News describes it as a suspected pneumonic plague death, while CNN says the researcher died of an unknown infection, and The Guardian notes officials have said the worker possibly died of plague. Those distinctions have not been fully resolved in the available reporting.
Pneumonic plague is the form of the disease that affects the lungs. The material above does not specify the exact location of the facility beyond Siberia, nor does it identify the worker or give a confirmed cause of death.
What to watch next: whether Russian authorities confirm or rule out plague as the cause, and whether any of the people under observation develop symptoms.
