Russia

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Dozens detained at a rally in Moscow held by Kremlin-friendly Communist Party, party says

Police in Moscow detained about 60 people at a rally Sunday held by Russia’s Kremlin-friendly Communist Party, the party said. Read More.

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Researcher at Russian plague research lab dies

Lab technicians at the Irkutsk Antiplague Institute in Russia. (Irkutsk Antiplague Institute)

Russian authorities have imposed “anti-epidemic measures” after a laboratory worker at an institute in Siberia dedicated to studying the plague and other infectious diseases died of a mysterious illness. The researcher, a 28-year-old lab technician at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of “unknown” origin, according to Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s infectious disease agency. Quarantine measures are now in place at the hospital where she was treated. The State Department said it is aware of the possible pneumonic plague death and is “monitoring the situation closely” with the CDC.

+ Read more: Researcher at Russian plague laboratory dies of ‘unknown’ infection

+ Video: What we know about the lab incident

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Russian plague puzzle

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images

Two big unknowns stand in the way of determining how serious the plague threat in Russia is and whether travel advisories, restrictions at U.S. ports of entry or other precautions are warranted. We still don't know which pathogen killed a Russian researcher, or how well contained it is, Axios' Caitlin Owens and Adriel Bettelheim write. State of play: A worker at the Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia recently died after contracting pneumonia. There are conflicting accounts of how she got sick and whether she was infected with pneumonic plague, which is almost always deadly without prompt treatment with antibiotics. 👀 The intrigue: Experts say that if the Russian worker did die from pneumonic plague, there's a possibility it was a genetically altered version that behaves differently than the treatable strain. That's just speculation at this point. But the prevalence of "gain-of-function" research that enhances pathogens to study them, and Russia's known development of biological weapons, make it impossible to rule out. Keep reading.