Kyrgyzstan has tightened sanitary and quarantine controls at border checkpoints following reports of a suspected infectious disease case in Russia’s Irkutsk region.

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Healthcare said the measures were introduced after an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown etiology, according to Qazinform.

All sanitary and quarantine checkpoints have been placed on heightened alert, while the country’s sanitary and epidemiological service continues to monitor the situation.

The ministry said border checkpoints are carrying out sanitary and epidemiological surveillance of people, vehicles and cargo entering the country to prevent the import and spread of infectious diseases, including particularly dangerous infections.

Kazakhstan is also monitoring the epidemiological situation in Russia’s Irkutsk region following reports of a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infectious disease.