The Ghost of the Plague Emerges from Russia.. Learn About Its Types and Symptoms

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The specter of the plague has re-emerged, following a tragic incident that shook Russia, sending signals of concern around the world after the death of an employee at a laboratory in an institute specialized in studying the plague.

In the latest updates, the Russian health agency ruled out on Wednesday any "epidemic threat" to the residents of Irkutsk city and the surrounding region in Siberia, amid ongoing calls for more transparency regarding the incident.

The public health agency (Rospotrebnadzor) stated that medical monitoring of more than 90% of the individuals who came into contact with the woman has been completed, noting that "no health issues related to an infectious disease have been detected," while also confirming that "there is no epidemic threat to the residents of Irkutsk city and its province."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Russia has informed the World Health Organization about the situation regarding the unexplained pneumonia in the Irkutsk region located in southeastern Siberia.

The World Health Organization requested information from Russian authorities regarding media reports about a second employee in a laboratory suffering from pneumonia without knowing the cause.

The World Health Organization also requested more information to clarify the cause of the acute pneumonia and the pathogen that led to public health measures, according to a statement issued yesterday, Tuesday.

The Russian health watchdog announced yesterday, Tuesday, that no cases of plague have been detected among those who were in contact with an employee at the Siberian Plague Institute who died last week.

The United States has also formally requested Russia to provide information regarding reports about the death of the laboratory employee, according to a source familiar with the matter on Tuesday, amid increasing calls for Moscow to be transparent.

Russian authorities denied implementing measures to combat the plague and downplayed reports of an incident that occurred last week at a disease research institute in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.

What do we know about pneumonic plague?

Plague is a bacterial disease caused by the plague bacterium known as "Yersinia pestis," and it has three main forms: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague.

Pneumonic plague is considered the most dangerous of these forms and the most capable of spreading among humans, as its symptoms can appear quickly, sometimes within 24 hours of infection, and it spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets.

The World Health Organization states that "pneumonic plague is highly contagious and can cause serious epidemics through transmission between people via respiratory droplets."

Despite its severity, the disease is treatable with antibiotics, and the chances of recovery are high if treatment begins early, especially within the first hours of symptom onset. However, if the disease is not detected and treated early, pneumonic plague can be fatal.

What are the symptoms to watch out for?

It is not necessary for the prominent and painful swelling of the lymph nodes, known as bubonic plague, which results from the proliferation of bacteria within the lymph nodes, to appear in those infected with pneumonic plague.

However, the most prominent symptoms of pneumonic plague are fever, headache, weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and rapidly progressing pneumonia, which may be accompanied by the expulsion of watery or bloody mucus.