“News Items is the first thing I read every morning”. — David Brooks.
1. The Moscow Times:
In the Irkutsk region, 189 people suspected of having the plague have been identified and hospitalized, a REN TV source reported. According to the source, all of them had been in contact with a young woman who died from the disease the day before. These people were placed in two hospitals, and 12 were sent to the Anti-Plague Institute for observation. Some of them are showing symptoms of the disease, but infection has not yet been confirmed. People who had recently seen the hospitalized individuals are also being identified for investigation, the source added.
According to Mash, a 27-year-old employee of the Anti-Plague Institute fell ill with pneumonic plague . According to one version, she returned from a work trip to Buryatia, where a plague outbreak was reported on the border with Mongolia. Another version states that she accidentally broke a test tube containing a dangerous bacterium in the lab while collecting biopsy specimens for diagnostic purposes. On September 29, she was admitted to Shelekhov Hospital with pneumonia symptoms and placed on a ventilator. However, she died two days later. All clinic staff were isolated, and the institution itself was quarantined. (Sources: ru.themoscowtimes.com, t.me)
2. Turkiyetoday.com
Five hospitals in Russia’s Irkutsk region have been placed under quarantine and a nearby aluminum plant has introduced a mask mandate after a 27-year-old researcher at the city’s anti-plague institute died from the disease, according to reports from the independent outlet Lyudi Baikala and The Moscow Times.
The quarantine measures, which authorities have not formally confirmed are linked to plague, affect three municipal hospitals in Irkutsk, No. 1, No. 3 and No. 10, along with the Ivano-Matreninskaya Children’s Hospital and a maternity hospital, Lyudi Baikala reported.
A healthcare source cited by the outlet said medical staff were “already openly talking about plague,” even though the disease does not appear in official documentation.
The source added that selective quarantine measures are not used in cases of pneumonic plague, meaning restrictions are instead imposed simultaneously across all affected medical institutions. (Source: turkiyetoday.com)
3. From the Center for Disease Control:
Plague is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
Plague is spread to people through bites from infected rodent fleas or, less often, direct contact with an infected animal.
Plague occurs naturally in parts of the western United States. Sudden illness or death among wild rodents, such as squirrels or prairie dogs, could indicate plague activity.
Plague can be cured with antibiotics, but treatment must be given quickly. (Source: cdc.gov. This assumes the bacterium is not genetically modified. )
4. This from Claude:
Shelekhov is a town of about 45,000–50,000 people in Irkutsk Oblast, in south-central Siberia. It sits about 15–20 km (10–12 miles) southwest of Irkutsk, on the Irkut River near where it joins the Angara. Lake Baikal is about 60–70 km to the southeast. The town was founded in the 1950s around the Irkutsk Aluminum Smelter, which is still its main employer (now owned by Rusal).
The Trans-Siberian Railway runs right through the area. Shelekhov has its own stations on the main line between Irkutsk and Slyudyanka, at the southern tip of Baikal. Rail access was a big reason the smelter was built there.
An outbreak becomes an epidemic when it travels. (Source: claude.com)
