Sandego.net – Pneumonic plague by the numbers begins with a single reported death and many unanswered questions. Global health officials are seeking more information after a 28-year-old employee at a plague research institute in southeastern Russia died following an illness described by Russian authorities as pneumonia of an unknown cause.

The employee worked at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia in Irkutsk, which has studied plague since 1934. Russian authorities have said there has been no recently recorded plague case and have sought to reassure the public that there is no wider outbreak. The World Health Organization has said it does not yet have enough information to make a full assessment.…