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Google searches for ‘plague’ in Russia surge 2,800% after hospital quarantines in the Irkutsk region

Source: Meduza

Russians have been searching for information about plague more frequently. According to Google Trends, interest in the search term ”чума” (“plague”) rose by about 2,800% during the week of September 29 to October 5, and by 5,000% compared with the same period a year earlier. The spike in interest began after news broke that a hospital in the city of Shelekhov, in Russia’s Irkutsk region, had been placed under quarantine. Media outlets said that 28-year-old Darya Shipilova died there of pneumonic plague. According to one account, she was admitted to the hospital after returning from Thailand. According to another, she was a laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute who accidentally broke a test tube containing the pathogen. Officials have not confirmed that she died of plague. Russia’s federal public health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, says she was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” On October 3, officials in the city of Baikalsk posted a message on Telegram urging people not to travel to Shelekhov, but later deleted it. On October 4, authorities imposed three-week quarantines at several hospitals in Irkutsk.

Cover page: Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

Google searches for ‘plague’ in Russia surge 2,800% after hospital quarantines in the Irkutsk region

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Google searches for ‘plague’ in Russia surge 2,800% after hospital quarantines in the Irkutsk region

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