US closely monitoring case of lab worker who possibly died of plague in Siberia
US closely monitoring case of lab worker who possibly died of plague in Siberia
美国正密切关注西伯利亚一名实验室工作人员疑似死于鼠疫的案件
Darya Shipilova, who worked at a plague research institute in Siberia, died on the night of 2 October at a regional hospital in Shelekhov, Russia. 在西伯利亚一家鼠疫研究所工作的达里娅·希皮洛娃（Darya Shipilova）于10月2日晚在俄罗斯舍列霍夫的一家地区医院去世。
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said the US is closely monitoring the case of a Russian laboratory worker who died last week after a reported accident at a plague research institute in Siberia. 美国国务卿马尔科·鲁比奥（Marco Rubio）表示，美国正在密切关注一名俄罗斯实验室工作人员的案件，该人员据报道在西伯利亚一家鼠疫研究所发生事故后于上周死亡。
“We’re watching and monitoring it closely,” Rubio said on Monday before leaving for a trip to Europe. “I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause just to keep an eye on it.” “我们正在密切观察和监测，”鲁比奥周一在启程前往欧洲前表示。“我不认为这值得恐慌，但确实值得关注，也需要保持警惕。”
Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee at the anti-plague institute in the city of Irkutsk, became ill at work. She died two days later on the night of 2 October at a regional hospital in the nearby town of Shelekhov. 28岁的达里娅·希皮洛娃是伊尔库茨克市抗鼠疫研究所的员工，她在工作中突然患病。两天后的10月2日晚，她在附近的舍列霍夫镇的一家地区医院去世。
It remains unclear how she became unwell. Unconfirmed reports in Russian media have suggested Shipilova may have been infected after a mishap at the laboratory. Officials have not publicly confirmed that account. 目前尚不清楚她是如何患病的。俄罗斯媒体的未经证实报道称，希皮洛娃可能是在实验室发生事故后被感染的。官方尚未公开证实这一说法。
Local media have reported that the institute has subsequently been locked down, with staff forced to sleep on the floor and on chairs. “They’ve been isolating everybody since Friday – more than 60 people,” one relative, Roman, told the news portal Siberia.Realities. 当地媒体报道称，该研究所随后被封锁，员工被迫睡在地板和椅子上。一位亲属罗曼（Roman）告诉新闻门户网站“西伯利亚现实”（Siberia.Realities）：“从周五开始，他们就把所有人隔离了——超过60人。”
He said family members were allowed to drop off food at a checkpoint while tests were carried out inside the building. Similar quarantine restrictions have been placed on several other hospitals in and around the city. 他说，在建筑物内进行检测期间，家属被允许在检查站递送食物。该市及周边地区的其他几家医院也实施了类似的隔离限制。
Rubio, citing what Russians have released about the death, said it seemed a worker in the lab became infected and there was concern the disease may have spread internally. 鲁比奥援引俄罗斯方面关于这起死亡事件的披露信息称，似乎是实验室的一名工作人员受到了感染，人们担心这种疾病可能已经在内部传播。
“There’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously,” he said. “But like anything else, something like that gets out, it just quickly spreads.” “显然，美国和俄罗斯之间的旅行非常有限，”他说。“但就像其他任何事情一样，一旦类似的事情泄露出去，它就会迅速蔓延。”
Senior Russian officials have added to public disquiet by sending conflicting messages. Alexey Tsydenov, the head of the Buryatia region, which neighbours Irkutsk, initially wrote that Shipilova had died of plague, before editing his post to say she had “possibly” died of the disease. 俄罗斯高级官员发出的相互矛盾的信息加剧了公众的不安。与伊尔库茨克接壤的布里亚特地区负责人阿列克谢·齐杰诺夫（Alexey Tsydenov）最初写道，希皮洛娃死于鼠疫，随后他编辑了帖子，改称她“可能”死于该疾病。
Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health watchdog, said Shipilova died from “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”. It insisted that tests found no micro-organisms linked to her professional work and described the “sanitary and epidemiological” situation in the area as stable. 俄罗斯卫生监管机构“联邦消费者权益保护和公益监督局”（Rospotrebnadzor）表示，希皮洛娃死于“病因不明的肺炎”。该机构坚称，检测未发现与她专业工作相关的微生物，并称该地区的“卫生和流行病学”状况稳定。
Authorities in the nearby city of Baikalsk briefly urged residents to avoid travelling to Shelekhov and surrounding settlements after what they said was unofficial information about a possible plague infection. They later deleted the post from social media. 附近贝加尔斯克市的当局在收到所谓关于可能发生鼠疫感染的非官方信息后，曾短暂敦促居民避免前往舍列霍夫及周边定居点。他们随后从社交媒体上删除了该帖子。
“There are no obvious changes to daily life on the streets, but people are worried and anxious. Locals are angry that they are not being told anything,” said Elena Trifonova, a journalist with People of Baikal, an exiled Russian media outlet specialising in Siberia. “街头的日常生活没有明显变化，但人们感到担忧和焦虑。当地人很生气，因为他们什么都不知道，”专门报道西伯利亚的流亡俄罗斯媒体“贝加尔湖人民”（People of Baikal）的记者埃琳娜·特里福诺娃（Elena Trifonova）说。
Despite the lack of a confirmed diagnosis, precautionary measures appear to have been introduced across the region. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Monday that several hospitals in Irkutsk had been placed under quarantine. 尽管缺乏确诊诊断，但该地区似乎已经采取了预防措施。美国资助的“自由欧洲电台/自由电台”周一报道称，伊尔库茨克的几家医院已被隔离。
The outlet confirmed that staff from Shipilova’s workplace, the Irkutsk Anti-plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, had been kept inside the institute since 2 October. 该媒体证实，希皮洛娃的工作单位——伊尔库茨克西伯利亚和远东抗鼠疫研究所的员工自10月2日起一直被留在研究所内。
Patients at Irkutsk city clinical hospital No 1 and the Ivano-Matreninskaya children’s hospital said relatives were not being allowed to visit and people inside were not permitted to leave. 伊尔库茨克市第一临床医院和伊万诺-马特列宁斯卡娅儿童医院的患者表示，亲属不被允许探视，里面的人也不被允许离开。
On social media, local residents described some of the precautions being introduced. 在社交媒体上，当地居民描述了正在实施的一些预防措施。
Ulyana Gavryunina, who went on Monday to one of Irkutsk’s main maternity hospitals for a routine check-up on Monday, said doctors refused to allow her mother in, citing a quarantine imposed over the suspected plague case. Gavryunina said staff member checked her for flu-like symptoms and asked her to fill out a screening form for infections, on which “plague” was listed. She posted a photograph of the form on Instagram. 周一前往伊尔库茨克一家主要妇产医院进行常规检查的乌利亚娜·加夫留尼娜（Ulyana Gavryunina）表示，医生拒绝让她母亲进入，理由是针对疑似鼠疫病例实施了隔离。加夫留尼娜说，工作人员检查了她是否有流感样症状，并要求她填写一份感染筛查表，上面列有“鼠疫”一项。她在Instagram上发布了该表格的照片。
Elsewhere, a mask requirement was introduced at the Irkutsk aluminium smelter in Shelekhov. The plant’s director, Artyom Fominykh, called it a preventive measure, saying: “Better safe than sorry.” Over the weekend several public events in Irkutsk were cancelled. 在其他地方，舍列霍夫的伊尔库茨克铝冶炼厂实施了口罩强制令。该厂厂长阿尔乔姆·福米内赫（Artyom Fominykh）称这是一种预防措施，并表示：“有备无患。”周末，伊尔库茨克的几场公共活动被取消。
Shipolova’s death has prompted intervention from senior federal health officials. Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor and the country’s chief sanitary doctor, travelled to Irkutsk on Friday. 希皮洛娃的死亡促使联邦高级卫生官员介入。俄罗斯联邦消费者权益保护和公益监督局局长、国家首席卫生医生安娜·波波娃（Anna Popova）于周五前往伊尔库茨克。
She attended an emergency meeting of the regional sanitary and anti-epidemic commission over what officials called a suspected case of a “particularly dangerous infection”. 她出席了地区卫生和防疫委员会的紧急会议，讨论官员们所称的“特别危险感染”疑似病例。
Igor Kobzev, the governor of the Irkutsk region, urged residents to remain calm after meeting Popova to coordinate the response. “All identified contacts have been placed under medical observation. As of today, none is showing signs of illness and laboratory tests have returned negative results,” he wrote on Telegram. 伊尔库茨克州州长伊戈尔·科布泽夫（Igor Kobzev）在与波波娃会面协调应对措施后，敦促居民保持冷静。“所有已确定的接触者都已接受医学观察。截至今日，无人出现患病迹象，实验室检测结果均为阴性，”他在Telegram上写道。
Kobzev made no reference to reports that a laboratory worker had died. 科布泽夫没有提及有关实验室工作人员死亡的报道。
US politicians have raised concerns about the incident, which follows longstanding and unfounded allegations by the Kremlin that Ukraine has secretly carried out biological weapons research with the support of Washington. 美国政界人士对这一事件表示担忧，此前克里姆林宫长期以来一直毫无根据地指控乌克兰在华盛顿的支持下秘密进行生物武器研究。
A Republican representative, Don Bacon, a senior member of the House armed services committee, wrote on social media: “I remember hearing from anti-Ukraine voices about their so-called bio labs. It was Russian disinformation ops at their best. But in reality it is Russia with the bio labs.” 众议院军事委员会高级成员、共和党众议员唐·培根（Don Bacon）在社交媒体上写道：“我记得曾听到反乌克兰的声音谈论他们所谓的生物实验室。那是俄罗斯虚假信息行动的杰作。但实际上，拥有生物实验室的正是俄罗斯。”
Plague remains endemic in parts of Siberia. 鼠疫在西伯利亚部分地区仍然是地方性流行病。