Understanding Pneumonic Plague: Risks, Symptoms, and Global Concerns

The bacterium Yersinia pestis causes plague, including the most common form, bubonic plague, which typically results from the bite of an infected flea. Pneumonic plague is recognized as the most serious form of the illness. A 28-year-old lab researcher at a Russian institute dedicated to studying plague and dangerous pathogens died of pneumonia of an unknown origin. The Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute operates in Siberia, where several other people are quarantined.

Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian agency that oversees infectious disease, has downplayed the link between the researcher’s death and her work, but the case has prompted questions about the type of plague that causes pneumonia. The US State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated they are monitoring the situation closely. The World Health Organization announced it is in contact with Russian health authorities to verify what happened, what testing is underway, and any potential international public health implications.

Pneumonic plague is a rare, deadly lung infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Scientists consider pneumonic plague the most dangerous form of the infection, alongside other forms like bubonic and septicemic plague.

Pneumonic plague is the only form of the bacterial infection that passes directly from person to person through respiratory particles when someone coughs or sneezes. Droplets from infected animals can also transmit the disease. Symptoms include severe pneumonia, difficulty breathing, fever, chills, headache, body aches, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Without treatment, it is nearly always deadly.

Doctors can treat plague with antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gentamicin, and streptomycin. Patients who receive antibiotics within the first 24 hours of infection have the highest chance of survival.