Researcher At Russian Plague Laboratory Dies of 'Unknown' Infection (axios.com)
- Reference: 0186024906
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/10/05/0146222/researcher-at-russian-plague-laboratory-dies-of-unknown-infection
- Source link: https://www.axios.com/2026/10/04/russia-plague-outbreak-white-house-us
> On Sept. 25, 28-year-old Daria Shipilova, who worked at an anti-plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region, broke a test tube containing the pneumonic plague pathogen, local reports said. Shipilova was admitted to a hospital on Sept. 29 with symptoms of severe pneumonia and died overnight between Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. After her death, authorities imposed quarantines at several medical facilities in the region and placed nearly 200 people who had come into contact with Shipilova under medical observation. Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev [2]said those being monitored showed no signs of illness and had tested negative... Russia's public health agency said Shipilova had "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and that further testing found no microorganisms linked to her work. The agency said the epidemiological situation in the region remains stable.
>
> Plague is a potentially life-threatening bacterial disease but can be cured with antibiotics when treated promptly, [3]according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
[4]CNN reports that according to Russian state media agency TASS, it remains unclear exactly what was released:
> The head of the neighboring republic of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov, said earlier that the employee — a 28-year old woman — died "possibly from the plague." He also noted that "there are no plague outbreaks" in Buryatia. The governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, urged calm on Friday, saying that an extraordinary meeting of the regional anti-epidemic commission was held with Russia's chief state doctor. The meeting was in connection with a "suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection affecting a resident of the region," Kobzev said on Telegram.... The infection in the Irkutsk region is "most likely not the plague, but even if confirmed, there will be no spread of this disease," a previous head of Rospotrebnadzor, Gennady Onishchenko, said on Friday. Onishchenko told the state news agency TASS that the onset of cold weather would likely prevent transmission.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [5]schwit1 for sharing the news.
[1] https://www.axios.com/2026/10/04/russia-plague-outbreak-white-house-us
[2] https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/02/nearly-200-people-under-observation-after-irkutsk-lab-worker-dies-from-plague-a93857
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/plague/about/index.html
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/04/europe/russia-laboratory-plague-accident-intl
[5] https://www.slashdot.org/~schwit1
said something bad about putin and was removed! (Score:1)
said something bad about putin and was removed!
Well, that sucks (Score:2)
She was doing important but dangerous work with the goal of helping people and improving their lives*, and a lab accident ended up taking hers. Thank you, Ms. Shipilova, for the work you did.
*I know it's Russia, but will generously assume that
Something is not completely adding up (Score:3)
Plague these days is very treatable with antibiotics. Progression to pneumonic plague requires either inhalation of aerosols or very advanced disease without treatment. I am not sure how any of that happens from a broken tube at an institution that should have at least rudimentary safety protocol (I know this is Russia, but even they know to seek treatment when exposed to plague). If antibiotics were administered, it means that the bug was resistant. Unfortunately there is no reliable reporting on the case. All the news stories are based on social media posts. More information on [1]Moscow TImes [themoscowtimes.com] and [2]Meduza [meduza.io].
[1] https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/02/nearly-200-people-under-observation-after-irkutsk-lab-worker-dies-from-plague-a93857
[2] https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/02/hospital-in-russia-s-irkutsk-region-quarantined-amid-reports-that-a-patient-died-of-pneumonic-plague
Plague is a problem in Russia? (Score:1)
That they have a whole laboratory for this? Interesting.
Re:Plague is a problem in Russia? (Score:5, Informative)
Plague is endemic in rodents in a number of places. It is probably native to the Russian parts of eastern Asia, but it is present in ground squirrels in the western US as well. Fortunately, it is usually easily curable with standard antibiotics when humans contract it, which they do. In Russian Asia, which is sparsely populated and poor, it could be a significant problem. An antibiotic-resistant plague, which given the tendency of bacteria to develop resistance is not impossible, would potentially be a disaster of major proportions.
Re: (Score:2)
Also don't most of the rodent->human infections result in bubonic plague? The malady mentioned in the summary was said to be pneumonic plague, which is the same bacteria but much much worse.
Re: (Score:2)
I believe that you are correct. If the infection occurred because of a containment failure in the lab, the pneumonic form would be possible. Neither is good, but the pneumonic form is far more contagious, since it can be spread through the air.
Re: (Score:2)
And doesn't have an intermediary vector, like rats to fleas to humans.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, and that's the intersting bit, knowing how this sort of doublespeak goes. They're saying she didn't of "The Plague". Like there's only one. Kind of disingenous, nu?
Re: (Score:2)
We have bubonic plague infections every year in the United States. Very, very few, admittedly, but it's not like it's been eradicated. So there's still benefit in studying it.