India, Oct. 5 -- Health authorities have placed nearly 200 people under quarantine in Russia's Siberian Irkutsk region after a laboratory worker reportedly died from plague, according to media reports.

Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighbouring Republic of Buryatia, said the woman who reportedly died of plague in the Irkutsk region had not travelled to Buryatia.

"There are no plague outbreaks in the republic, including in the areas bordering Mongolia. The source of infection stems from circumstances unrelated to Buryatia," he said in a statement.

According to The Moscow Times, the deceased woman was identified as Daria Sh, who worked at the Irkutsk anti-plague institute.

She was hospitalised in the city of Shelekhov after developing sy...