Nearly 200 Monitored After Siberian Lab Worker Dies in Suspected Plague Case

Russian authorities have quarantined medical facilities and placed nearly 200 people under observation following the death of a laboratory worker in Siberia in a suspected pneumonic plague case.

Local media identified the woman as Daria Shipilova, 28, an assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Reports said she may have been exposed after breaking a test tube containing plague bacteria on September 25. She later developed severe pneumonia, was admitted to a hospital in Shelekhov on September 29 and died overnight between October 1 and 2.

The account of the laboratory accident has not been officially confirmed. Russian epidemiologist Mikhal Favorov disputed it, saying protective equipment used at anti-plague institutes would make infection from a broken tube unlikely.

Buryatia Governor Alexei Tsydenov said a woman in neighboring Irkutsk had died of plague. However, Russian health authorities have not confirmed the cause of Shipilova’s death. Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said no one under observation had developed symptoms and that all tests conducted so far were negative. Russia’s public health agency said the regional situation was stable.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the bacterium *Yersinia pestis* and can spread between people through respiratory droplets. It can be treated with antibiotics, particularly when treatment begins early.