Nearly 200 isolated after lab worker dies of suspected plague in Siberia

A lab worker at an anti-plague institute in Siberia has died, and nearly 200 people are under medical watch. Russia has not confirmed plague.

2 min readOct 5, 2026 10:09 AM IST First published on: Oct 5, 2026 at 10:08 AM IST

Plague case In Russia raises alarm. (Representational/File Photo)

Russian authorities have quarantined medical facilities in Siberia and put nearly 200 people under medical observation after the death of a woman who worked at an anti-plague laboratory. Russian media have said she may have had pneumonic plague, but health authorities have not yet confirmed the illness, according to Axios.

The woman is named as Daria Shipilova, 28, a laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Local reports say she broke a test tube holding the bacteria. Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said none of the people being watched has shown symptoms, and all their tests so far have come back negative.

A Trump administration official told Axios on Sunday that the White House is monitoring the case. Russia’s public health agency says the situation in the region is stable. In a thread on X, health expert Ashish K. Jha said he is concerned and that Russia owes the world more answers. Not all of these claims have been checked, and the cause of the death has not been confirmed by officials.

Many of you have been tracking the Irkutsk lab situation over the last few days. I’ve been gathering facts and trying to understand what is happening before weighing in. Now that I have, I have to say — I’m concerned 🧵

— Ashish K. Jha (@ashishkjha) October 5, 2026

What happened to the lab worker

Local reports say Shipilova broke a test tube containing the pneumonic plague pathogen on September 25. Later, she fell ill on an expedition with other workers near Russia’s eastern border with Mongolia, The New York Post reported, citing the news outlet Lyudi Baikala.

She was admitted to a hospital in the town of Shelekhov on September 29 with signs of severe pneumonia. According to reports in the Post and Axios, Shipilova was placed on a ventilator and died in the intervening night between October 1 and 2

After her death, authorities put quarantines in place at several medical facilities in the region. Workers in protective gear have been testing people and places in Shelekhov, the Post said.

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