People in China are reportedly preparing for quarantine following concerns of a plague outbreak in Russia, with social media speculation prompting residents to stockpile food and supplies.
Residents across the country have reportedly been left scrambling for "rice, sugar, eggs, canned food and other daily necessities" after online fears suggested China could be overcome by the deadly disease, according to Chinese news channel FTV.
Lab worker death sparks quarantine
The concerns come after the death of a lab worker at a Russian anti-plague institute on October 2 caused a major quarantine response involving at least 200 people, sparking fears that the employee may have come into contact with the highly contagious disease.
Officials in the city of Irkutsk have denied that Darya Shipilova, 28, died from the plague, instead describing its cause as being "pneumonia".
Unconfirmed reports and global concern
Unconfirmed reports have described Shipilova as having come into contact with the plague, with many suggesting she may have dropped a vial containing the infectious bacteria that causes the deadly disease. Others have reported that she had recently returned from a research trip to Mongolia where she was working with potentially infected animals, although this too has not been verified.
The World Health Organisation are investigating the reported outbreak, although they stressed in a statement that as of yet they haven't found "evidence of ongoing transmission associated with this event" but warned that "a laboratory-associated exposure" of the deadly plague-carrying bacteria "cannot be fully excluded at this stage."
Anxiety spreads in neighbouring China
Despite the reports of plague remaining unconfirmed at this stage, the death of Darya Shipilova has sparked global concerns, including in neighbouring China. A spokesperson for the foreign affairs thinktank CFA described a growing sense of anxiety online following the reports, with residents around the Russia-China and Russia-Mongolia borders said to be especially concerned.
Writing on X, Yanzhong Huang wrote: "Posts on Chinese social media have urged residents . . . to stockpile food and protective supplies, with some warning of possible future lockdowns. Separate anonymous claims circulating on X allege plague cases or deaths in Shanghai and Chongqing linked to recent Russia travel."
