Plague kills woman in Siberia, official says

A woman in Russia's remote Siberian region of Irkutsk has died of plague, a regional official said Friday, while a Russian media outlet reported that dozens of people were under quarantine.

Alexei Tsydenov, governor of neighbouring Buryatia, said in a social media post that a woman in the Irkutsk region had died of plague.

The People of Baikal news outlet named her as 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova. It said she worked for the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube.

The outlet said as many as 200 people who may have had contact with her were under quarantine, without giving further details.

Russia's health ministry had not immediately issued a statement. AFP said it could not verify the reports.

Plague is an infectious disease caused by bacteria. The World Health Organization says pneumonic plague is highly infectious and can be fatal if not treated early.