New York airport monitoring Russian arrivals over fears researcher died from plague

New York has increased its surveillance and is monitoring passengers from Russia at one of its major airports after reports emerged from the country that a researcher died of the pneumonic plague.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Erica Schwartz announced the monitoring will be established at John F Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, during a Wall Street Journal event on Wednesday, saying it would 'protect' the country from threats.

She said: 'We are working with Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Department of War, and other agencies within the government to make sure that we know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the US.

'We have a port health station set up in JFK [airport] so that we can do appropriate surveillance and screening if anyone from that area comes into the US.

'We're very well positioned to make sure that we are protected from a potential threat like that.'

Panic broke out last week after Russian lab researcher Darya Shipilova, 28, died after reportedly suffering an accident while working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia.

Local media reports suggest that she was infected with the pneumonic plague, but Russian authorities have disputed this account, saying she died from a 'pneumonia of unknown aetiology.'

US authorities are set to screen travelers from Siberia at JFK airport in New York. Pictured above is a person in personal protective equipment at the airport amid the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020

Her mother, medical professional Svetlana, has also slammed suggestions that she became infected after breaking a test tube in a lab, saying this was 'impossible' to do at these facilities.

Shipilova was hospitalized on September 29 and died on October 2.

A second person was suggested to have died from the disease this week, media reports suggested, but this has also been denied by Russian authorities.

About 200 people and five hospitals were placed into quarantine after Shipilova's death, reports suggest, but on Thursday these measures were ended.

The country's state health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said monitoring of all the dead woman's contacts had concluded and that no dangerous pathogens had been found in nearly 5,000 samples tested.

Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev added: 'Amidst intense media scrutiny, the specialists thoroughly investigated the situation. It ⁠was a test, but we passed it in worthy fashion.'

US officials say that about 200 people from Siberia arrive in the US every year, mostly at JFK Airport in New York City.

Direct flights between Russia and the US have been suspended since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, but estimates suggest several thousand Russians currently arrive in the US annually.

New York is on alert for passengers from Russia after reports emerged from the country that a researcher died of the pneumonic plague. Health checks will be set up at John F Kennedy International Airport (pictured above)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Erica Schwartz announced the move at a Wall Street Journal event on Wednesday, saying the screenings would 'protect' the country from threats

Most fly to the US via connecting flights. Major airports in the US for connecting flights include JFK, Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

It is not clear whether other airports have also brought in checks for travelers arriving from Russia.

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The Daily Mail has contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services to ask whether anyone has yet been screened at the airport.

It is unclear what the monitoring, or possible screening, may involve, but during the Covid pandemic, health screenings at airports included a temperature check and questionnaires as to whether the traveler had recently been in an area where the virus was known to be spreading.

Speaking at the summit on Wednesday, Schwartz added: 'What we're doing from a whole of government standpoint is we're making sure that we understand exactly what that threat is.

'We are very confident ⁠that ​the threat to the United States is ​extremely low.'

Local media reports suggest Shipilova was infected with the pneumonic plague, a strain of the disease that can spread from person to person.

It spreads via droplets released into the air when someone coughs or sneezes, raising fears Shipilova could have infected others.

But on its webpage, the CDC says that it is rare for the disease to spread from person to person. The agency said someone needs to have prolonged face to face contact with another infected person for the disease to pass in this way.

On Wednesday, the CDC told the Daily Mail that it was 'closely monitoring' media reports of the suspected plague case in Russia and in contact with other government agencies.

Former CDC director Dr Robert Redfield raised concerns Wednesday that Shipilova may have been sickened with a bioweapon.

He said that, as she was a lab worker, if she had had an accident in a laboratory she would have immediately been put on antibiotics, which can effectively clear a plague infection – which is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis.

He added that the scale of the response, and the number of contacts the authorities isolated, suggested that she may have had a serious infection. He questioned whether this was a 'manipulated' form of the plague.

On Wednesday, following a call with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said he was confident that the case was not caused by a bioweapon.

He told reporters at the White House: 'We don't think so. We're going to find out.'

He added that Russian officials had assured him the situation was 'very much under control' but that they were 'not saying much.'