Russian Laboratory Worker Dies at Siberian Anti-Plague Institute; Cause Unconfirmed

A woman who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, in southeastern Siberia, died on Friday, according to the World Health Organization, which reported no confirmed cause of death. Russian officials say she died of pneumonia of undetermined origin and have not linked her death to her work at the institute, while the U.S. State Department says it is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Russian media have reported that nearly 200 people who had contact with her are under precautionary medical observation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Washington was watching the situation closely, calling it cause for focus rather than alarm, and President Donald Trump told reporters the same day that the situation was a "big problem for Russia" and that the United States would help.

Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev announced the cause of death as "pneumonia of undetermined etiology" and said no micro-organisms linked to the woman's work had been found in her biological samples, according to BBC News. Kobzev, citing Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, also said no other staff from the plague institute had sought medical attention since her death, and the watchdog said a biological safety team had inspected the institute and found no emergency situation there, the BBC reported. NBC Connecticut reported that a Russian official described the death as pneumonia of undetermined origin and did not link it to her work at the institute. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people not to listen to "various rumours" and instead to rely on Rospotrebnadzor's official statements, according to the BBC.

The U.S. State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Irkutsk Oblast, a region in southeastern Siberia, and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly, a State Department official told Fox News. The official said many details remain unconfirmed, called on Russian authorities to reveal what they know, said pneumonic plague can be treated with common antibiotics especially when treatment begins early, and said cases of pneumonic plague occur naturally in many parts of the world; the official encouraged Americans traveling overseas to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. NBC Connecticut reported that the State Department said it was monitoring the reports in coordination with the CDC. Rubio, asked by a reporter for an update on the suspected plague case in Russia, said it appeared a lab worker had been infected and that there was concern it could have spread at least internally, adding, "I don't think it's cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus." NBC Connecticut reported separately that Rubio said U.S. officials were closely watching developments of a lab leak from an anti-plague laboratory in Russia. Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House before a trip to Nebraska, called the outbreak a "big problem for Russia" and "a rough disease," said the United States would do what it could to help, and said the United States was looking at the matter "very strongly," according to The Straits Times, Arab News and the New York Post. The New York Post reported that Trump also said "the microbes and the germs have gotten stronger," that germs had become relatively stronger and that he had not yet spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the matter.

NBC Connecticut reported that key details remain unknown, including whether the woman was infected with plague at all and, if so, whether it was naturally occurring plague or bacteria studied in the lab, and that scientists also do not know how quickly her illness progressed or what treatment she received. BBC News reported that unconfirmed reports had suggested she fell ill either after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or following a field trip to a region where plague is found naturally among wild rodents, and that she had recently visited the Buryatia region on the border with Mongolia.

Scientists and public health specialists quoted by the sources described the disease and the risk level. Lisa Morici, a microbiologist and immunologist at Tulane University School of Medicine, told NBC Connecticut that it was possible the woman died of something unrelated and that her lab work was a coincidence, that bubonic plague is the most common form and is usually not contagious, that it can spread to the lungs and become pneumonic plague, and that "it's highly unlikely for most people to get the pneumonic form of the disease" and that it is "nothing like the Covid-19 pandemic." She also said pneumonic plague is frightening because it can kill quickly, that public health experts consider it the most likely candidate for a biological attack, that patients with it are often quarantined, and that strict levels of biocontainment are used. Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House's former Covid response coordinator, told NBC News, "If there were weapons programs, biological weapons programs in these labs, that would be much more concerning to me," adding that this needed to be understood now. Dr. Dave Wagner, director of the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University, told NBC Connecticut that respiratory droplets travel only about three to six feet and drop to the ground quickly, that the disease progresses remarkably fast, that antibiotics are highly effective, and that he had no reason to believe the suspected case would take off and spread. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told NBC Connecticut that close contacts are most at risk and that pneumonic plague spreads to face-to-face contacts rather than distantly across a room, that there is no evidence the bacteria are evolving antibiotic resistance, and that 2026 would not become the Middle Ages. Dr. Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, told BBC Radio 4 that the pneumonic version of Yersinia pestis is nearly always fatal if untreated but can be overcome with antibiotics, that it can transmit from person to person, which is why there is concern, that lockdown-type measures are not what will happen, and that plague is still present in certain parts of the world. Asked whether the pathogen might have been studied for potential use as a bio-weapon, Clarke agreed it was possible but said his earlier explanation was probably more likely, the BBC reported. Former CIA officer Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital that the U.S. intelligence community is likely collecting all-source intelligence on the incident and that the U.S. embassy in Moscow would likely be engaging with diplomatic counterparts, adding that Washington would be speaking to allies and partners in the region.

NBC Connecticut reported background on the disease: plague is caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria, presents in bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic forms according to the World Health Organization, and is treated with antibiotics; pneumonic plague is the rarest form according to the WHO and can spread through respiratory droplets. About seven cases of plague are reported in the United States each year, according to the CDC, mostly in rural parts of the Southwest; last July a man in Arizona died of pneumonic plague after exposure to sick cats. BBC News reported that the Irkutsk institute was founded just over 100 years ago in response to an outbreak in the 1920s, and that Yersinia pestis is found among rodents such as marmots in the Buryatia area.

Where sources differ

• Characterisation of the case: Russian officials describe the death as pneumonia of undetermined etiology with no micro-organisms linked to her work found in her samples (BBC News), while the U.S. State Department describes it as a suspected fatal case of pneumonic plague (NBC Connecticut, Fox News).
• NBC Connecticut reports that Rubio said U.S. officials were closely watching developments of a lab leak from an anti-plague laboratory in Russia; BBC News' account of Rubio's remarks quotes him describing a worker at the lab who was infected and concern that it could have spread, without using the term lab leak.
• Identifying details: BBC News says the woman's first name was given by Russian media as Daria and that she was in her late twenties; NBC Connecticut says she was 28; the New York Post names her as Daria Shipilova, 28.
• The New York Post reports that Russian media describe the woman as the country's first fatal pneumonic plague case in years, while the Irkutsk governor says no micro-organisms linked to her work were found in her biological samples (BBC News).
• Whether the woman was infected with plague at all, and if so whether the infection was naturally occurring or linked to laboratory work, is unresolved across the sources.

• Whether the woman was infected with Yersinia pestis at all, and if so whether the infection was naturally acquired or came from bacteria studied in the laboratory.
• Any confirmed cause of death; the World Health Organization reported the death with no cause confirmed, and no test results have been published in the supplied sources.
• How quickly the woman's illness progressed, when she first became symptomatic, and what treatment, if any, she received.
• Whether the unconfirmed reports that she broke a test tube containing the pathogen, or that she was infected during a field trip to an area where plague circulates in rodents, are accurate.
• Independent verification of the figure, attributed to Russian media, that nearly 200 contacts are under medical observation.
• Any direct statement from the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East itself; the statements on its behalf come from the regional governor and Rospotrebnadzor.
• Any comment from the woman's family, and confirmation of her full identity beyond the name reported by Russian media.
• Whether the case is being treated as a suspected plague case by Russian health authorities or solely as pneumonia of undetermined origin.
• Two of the supplied sources, The Times of India and the Los Angeles Times, address unrelated subjects — Trump's remarks on gasoline prices and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, and Senate War Powers votes on Iran — and contain no information on the Irkutsk case.

1. NBC Connecticut — original — by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Erika Edwards | NBC News
2. BBC News — by Patrick Jackson
3. The Straits Times — by The Straits Times
4. New York Post — by Steven Nelson
5. Arab News — by AFP
6. The Times of India — by SUBHADRA SRIVASTAVA
7. LA Times — by Christopher Buchanan
8. Fox News — by Emma Bussey

Read the original at NBC Connecticut

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