Russia investigates lab worker’s death amid unconfirmed reports of pneumonic plague

Russian authorities are investigating the death of a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute after reports that she may have contracted pneumonic plague.

The worker, identified by local media as Darya Shipilova, was admitted to a hospital near Irkutsk on September 29 and died after developing severe pneumonia. Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, described her illness as “pneumonia of unknown aetiology” and said testing had not detected microorganisms connected with her work. Moscow also said postmortem tests had not found plague and denied reports of a laboratory accident involving pathogenic organisms.

Regional officials nevertheless introduced anti-epidemic measures. Local media reported that as many as 189 or 200 people were placed under medical observation, while a hospital in Shelekhov was quarantined. The World Health Organization said all identified contacts were being monitored and that none had shown symptoms. It offered support to Russia.

Buryatia Governor Alexei Tsydenov initially said the woman had died “maybe of the plague,” but said authorities had confirmed that she had not travelled to his region, contradicting some media reports.

The United States said it was monitoring the situation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incident did not appear to be cause for alarm. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov urged the public to rely on Rospotrebnadzor’s statements rather than reports of an outbreak.