Lab worker dies in Siberia; 200 monitored for possible pneumonic plague

A 28-year-old laboratory technician, Daria Shipilova, died in the early hours of 2 October at a hospital in Shelekhov, Irkutsk region, after developing severe pneumonia. She worked at the Irkutsk Research Institute of Anti-Plague, which handles dangerous pathogens including Yersinia pestis.

Independent Russian outlets reported she accidentally broke a test tube containing live plague bacteria on 25 September but did not immediately disclose the incident. Doctors initially treated her for suspected COVID-19 before she was placed on a ventilator and died two days later.

“The situation is stable and tests exclude any micro-organism linked to the victim's work.”

Approximately 200 people who had contact with Shipilova have been placed under strict medical observation. Five hospitals in Irkutsk and Shelekhov were quarantined for an expected three weeks, and mask mandates were imposed at a local aluminium plant.

Russia's consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, headed by Anna Popova, stated the cause of death was "pneumonia of undetermined etiology" and said tests ruled out plague bacteria. The agency also denied any laboratory accident occurred.

The Buryatia governor, Alexei Tsydenov, initially posted on social media that the woman had "died of plague" but later rewrote the message. Regional authorities initially avoided the word "plague" in public statements, referring only to a "particularly dangerous infection."

No new cases among institute staff have been reported. International health bodies have not issued any alert confirming a plague outbreak in the region.