Nearly 200 Contacts Traced After Plague Death In Russian Laboratory Worker

I guess the good news about this one is that it can be treated if caught early and by prophylactic antibiotics for anyone who might have been exposed. It is not a new unknown pathogen that we don't know how to combat.

Quote from: NT2C on October 03, 2026, 04:40:20 PMNearly 200 Contacts Traced After Plague Death In Russian Laboratory Worker

Quote from: airballrad on October 03, 2026, 08:29:48 PMI guess the good news about this one is that it can be treated if caught early and by prophylactic antibiotics for anyone who might have been exposed. It is not a new unknown pathogen that we don't know how to combat.

Quote from: NT2C on October 03, 2026, 04:40:20 PMNearly 200 Contacts Traced After Plague Death In Russian Laboratory Worker

There are also vaccines in development in multiple countries that could be prioritized and distributed rapidly if needed. 

Notably, this iteration is pneumonic plague, which is more serious than bubonic plague, but is also the more rare.  Isolation and antibiotics are typically effective if treated early enough, though it's nearly 100% fatal if left untreated.  It's not only in labs, either.  There are scattered cases pretty regularly even in the US and infections typically occur when people clean or handle rodent droppings without taking proper precautions (this is also how hantavirus infections typically occur). 

Even if this instigates an epidemic in Russia, it's not likely to become a pandemic and most countries have protocols for dealing with plague.  Contact tracing is a good thing since that helps us know who to watch for signs of spread and where containment needs to happen if it needs to happen.

This one is less concerning than the increasing numbers of locally acquired dengue fever along the US eastern seaboard at least as far north as Virginia, medicine resistant tuberculosis, uncontained ebola spread in Africa, and a few others lingering about with greater potential to spread, imo. 

ETA:  I am going to amend this slightly as I do have a mild concern with how rapidly the article claims she declined and passed away.  Infected 25 September, presented unwell and hospitalized 28 September, passed 1 October.  The article does not state if she had started prophylactic antibiotic in the moments following exposure, which should be the protocol in any lab.  If she did and still declined so rapidly, that's very concerning.  If she didn't, that was just reckless, but not concerning. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/siberian-plague-lab-death-draws-fsb-escort-ambulances

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16182289/Russian-hospitals-hundreds-people-quarantine-amid-fatal-pneumonic-plague-outbreak-government-accused-cover-up.html