Suspected plague in Russia puts EU on alert

Europe is monitoring “very closely” a suspected case of pneumonic plague in eastern Russia, following the death of a lab worker, a European Commission spokesperson said Monday. “We are aware of the reports concerning the laboratory incident in Russia, seemingly involving a pathogen-causing plague,” spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told reporters. “We are in touch with our experts from [the] European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and we monitor very closely what is going on.” A 28-year-old employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East fell ill and died on Friday from what Alexei Tsydenov , head of the neighboring republic of Buryatia, said could be a case of pneumonic plague.