HealthSiberia plague scare: Pandemic risk ‘very low’, says infectious diseases expert

The unexplained death of a laboratory worker at a plague research institute in Siberia led Russian authorities to quarantine around 200 people amid concern she may have had pneumonic plague. ANU infectious diseases specialist Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake says the risk of a global pandemic is “very low”, noting plague is well understood and treatable with antibiotics.