Sales of "The Plague" novel by Albert Camus have surged in Russia following reports of a suspected case of the disease in the Irkutsk region.

The sales of the novel rose by 86% over the past week compared with the same period last year. Sales increased by 20% during the past week, according to dzen.ru.

The novel was most frequently purchased in Moscow and the Moscow region. Chelyabinsk region ranked second in demand, followed by Voronezh and Irkutsk regions and Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The increased interest in literature about the plague comes amid a health scare in Irkutsk region.

On October 1, the Shelekhov District Hospital was placed under quarantine over suspicions of an “especially dangerous infection.”

During the night of October 2, a 28-year-old woman identified as Darya Sh., who worked at an anti-plague university, died at the hospital.

Her death was initially attributed to pneumonic plague. Russia’s Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) later said she had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.”

Nearly 200 people who had contact with the woman were subsequently placed under medical observation.