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0:00Russia's government is downplaying
0:01concerns of female scientists in Siberia
0:04might have died from the plague after a
0:06lab accident.
0:07>> Russian officials say that it was
0:08pneumonia. US officials, well, they're
0:11not so sure.
0:11>> President Trump making his first comment
0:13about Russia's potential pneumonic
0:15plague case, calling it a quote big
0:17problem, end quote.
0:18>> Maybe, you know, there's nothing there
0:19or maybe it's bigger than we thought. We
0:20don't know.
0:21>> The risk to be moderate to low for
0:24Irkutsk and very low for the WHO
0:26European region.
0:28>> This really feels like a relic from the
0:29past. What is a pneumonic plague?
0:32>> It's a very nasty lung infection.
0:39>> So, a Russian lab technician at a plague
0:42research center in Siberia dies. Now,
0:45the United States is urging Russia to
0:47share with the world what it knows.
0:50Four Central Asian countries have
0:51stepped up health checks, whilst the
0:53World Health Organization is asking for
0:55more information. Well, over the next 10
0:58minutes or so, we'll assess what we know
1:00about her death, explain what pneumonic
1:02plague is, and if we need to be worried
1:05about this incident. Well, there are
1:07conflicting accounts of how the woman
1:09died in the facility in the Irkutsk
1:12region. Moscow has played down reports
1:15that she may have broken a test tube
1:17containing the plague pathogen.
1:19So, what do we know? Here's our Russia
1:21editor, Steve Rosenberg.
1:23>> This is what we know so far. We know
1:25that a few days ago, a lab worker in a
1:27plague research institute near Irkutsk
1:30fell sick, was hospitalized, and died.
1:34We know that Russia's public health
1:37body, the public health watchdog, held
1:39urgent talks with officials in Irkutsk
1:42region. We know that people with whom
1:44the lab technician had come into contact
1:47and staff at the institute have
1:49undergone medical checks. Officials say
1:51that no further instances of infection
1:54have been discovered. And we know that
1:56the official cause of death has been
1:58named as pneumonia of unknown origin.
2:02So, Russian officials are not saying
2:04that she died of the plague. They're
2:06using that form of words, pneumonia of
2:08unknown etiology.
2:10>> That's what's coming out of Moscow.
2:11President Trump says the US is looking
2:14very strongly at the case. Whilst
2:16America's top diplomat, Secretary of
2:18State Marco Rubio, urged Russia to share
2:21what it knows. He was speaking in
2:23Iceland.
2:23>> I think it's incumbent upon Russia to
2:25obviously share more information with
2:27the world. That's what they should do.
2:28That's what we hope they will do. And
2:30the more we can learn about what
2:31happened, then I the better all of us
2:34can be in a position of responding. And
2:35and maybe, you know, there's nothing
2:37there and maybe it's bigger than we
2:38thought. We don't know, but I think it
2:39would be reckless at this moment, given
2:42the limited information we still have,
2:44to speculate about what this might or
2:45might not be or what this is or what
2:47this isn't. Suffice it to say we're
2:49watching it very closely, and I think
2:51the whole world is watching it very
2:52closely because depending on what we
2:53learn about it, we would know how to
2:55respond.
2:56>> So, what have the Russian authorities
2:59actually said? Back to Steve Rosenberg
3:01in Moscow who's been talking to them.
3:03>> Well, I was on a conference call today
3:05with President Putin's spokesman, Dmitry
3:07Peskov, his daily conference call for
3:09journalists. And I asked for his
3:11reaction to what Donald Trump said
3:13yesterday.
3:15Uh the US President offered America's
3:16help to Russia to deal with the
3:18aftermath of the death of the the lab
3:21worker. Uh Mr. Peskov said that it's
3:24good when uh sides offer each other
3:27assistance. He didn't suggest that uh
3:29Russia was going to take America up on
3:31the offer. The other point he made was
3:34it's important, he said, that people
3:36listen only to official information
3:38being put out by Russia's public health
3:40watchdog about what's happening in
3:42Irkutsk region.
3:44>> Well, let's hear now from people who
3:46live in the Siberian town where the lab
3:48worker died.
3:50>> There was no panic at all. Everything
3:52was business as usual. My friends
3:54continued going to stores and
3:55pharmacies. Everything was the same.
3:58>> As far as I know, and judging by the
4:00situation where I live, there is no
4:02quarantine here. The situation is calm
4:04and stable, and there is no panic.
4:07>> US officials say they are watching
4:09closely amid concerns the incident could
4:11lead to the spread of pneumonic plague.
4:14So, what is it and how rare is it?
4:16Here's our global health correspondent,
4:18Dominic Hughes.
4:19>> Pneumonic plague is a really serious
4:22lung infection, and if it's not
4:23diagnosed quickly and treated with
4:25antibiotics, it is usually fatal. Now,
4:28it's one of three types of plague. The
4:30other two are bubonic plague and
4:32septicemic plague. There are around
4:35about 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague
4:38globally every year, many of them in
4:40places like Central Africa, but also in
4:43Russia, in North America, in China, in
4:46India. So, cases of plague are not
4:48unknown,
4:50but pneumonic plague is often regarded
4:52as the most virulent form of plague,
4:54even though it is a lot less common than
4:56bubonic plague. The symptoms are chest
4:58pain, shortness of breath, very similar
5:01to pneumonia. And as I say, if it's not
5:03treated quickly, it's normally fatal.
5:05>> Well, with concerns that it could
5:07spread, how easy would that be? Here's
5:09Dominic again.
5:10>> So, plague in general is a disease
5:13caused by bacteria that's often found on
5:15fleas, on small mammals. So, you can get
5:18it by either handling infected animals,
5:20but pneumonic plague in particular can
5:22be spread human to human by small
5:25droplets being coughed into the air. So,
5:27that's why it can be so infectious. In
5:30fact, it's thought that pneumonic plague
5:32might have been the plague that was
5:33behind the Black Death that caused
5:36millions and millions of fatalities
5:38across Europe. That's why there is so
5:41much concern because it is virulent and
5:43it can be contagious.
5:45>> Well, experts say at the moment the
5:47health risk appears to be low. Here's
5:49Christian Lindmeier from the World
5:51Health Organization.
5:53>> The WHO initial risk assessment from the
5:56information available estimates that the
5:59risk to be moderate to low for Irkutsk,
6:03a low risk for the Russian Federation as
6:05a whole,
6:06and very low for the WHO European
6:09region.
6:10We will update the assessment as more
6:12information comes in.
6:15>> Uzbekistan says it is setting up
6:17quarantine centers as a precaution. But
6:20can the plague be treated? Here's our
6:23global health correspondent Dominic
6:24Hughes again.
6:25>> Well, the World Health Organization
6:27warns that pneumonic plague can have a
6:29very short incubation period, sometimes
6:32just as short as 24 hours, and they warn
6:35that if it's not diagnosed very quickly
6:37and then treated quickly with
6:38antibiotics, it usually proves to be
6:41fatal. But the good news is that it does
6:44respond to antibiotics, so anyone who is
6:46infected and gets the antibiotics, they
6:48stand a very good chance of survival.
6:51It's worth pointing out that this case
6:53in Russia, we just don't know at this
6:55point whether the woman who sadly died
6:57did die of pneumonic plague. We know
7:00that hundreds of her colleagues and
7:02close contacts have been quarantined.
7:04The authorities say that so far none of
7:06them are showing any symptoms.
7:08>> Well, it's absolutely no surprise a
7:09story involving a plague is making
7:12global headlines. But how is it being
7:14reported in Russia itself? Steve
7:17Rosenberg has been looking for us.
7:19>> Well, in terms of what information
7:20Russians are getting about this
7:22situation,
7:23there is information online, on
7:26television very little, and in the
7:28newspapers this morning, I read through
7:30the newspapers here, there was nothing
7:32at all about the plague research
7:33institute and the death of a lab worker.
7:36As regards the local TV news bulletin in
7:40Irkutsk, I watched that this morning,
7:41the morning bulletin. Again, there was
7:43nothing about the story today. The top
7:46news there, in the TV news, the local TV
7:48news, was Russians sending aid to
7:51Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine,
7:54the renovation of a local hospital in
7:56Irkutsk, no mention of quarantine or
7:59public health threat, and also attacks
8:01by bears on people in Irkutsk region.
8:05>> So, finally, should we be worried? Well,
8:08Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a
8:10former British Army officer and a
8:11commentator on chemical and biological
8:14weapons.
8:15>> We shouldn't panic, but we should be
8:17concerned because
8:19it could either be a perfectly innocent
8:21accident in a laboratory could be
8:23something more sinister. We know that
8:26this laboratory in Siberia was part of
8:28the Biopreparat program, which was
8:30Russia's biological weapons program in
8:33the Cold War, and there's credible
8:34evidence that they have continued to
8:37work on biological weapons. We know
8:39Russia is using chemical weapons in
8:41Ukraine and threatens us with nuclear
8:43weapons. So, I think we should be aware.
8:45The thing I think that concerns people
8:47like me is the the story, if you like,
8:50about how this lady succumbed, died in
8:53the laboratory, because one would
8:56assume, because it is a plague
8:58anti-plague laboratory, that she would
9:00have been vaccinated against plague, and
9:03we know that medical countermeasures
9:04like antibiotics work very well against
9:07plague, but she died. The fact that we
9:10know very, very little, cuz Russia's
9:12clammed up, what I don't think we're
9:14going to see is a pandemic.
9:16>> And that's the death of a Russian plague
9:18research technician explained.