RFK Jr. health agency linked to $800K grant for research involving Russian plague lab collaborator

A watchdog group has reported that over $800,000 in taxpayer funds, overseen by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. through the Health and Human Services Department, was allocated to a research project with ties to a Siberian laboratory. This Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute was recently associated with a suspected plague outbreak.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received nearly $800,000 in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2025 and 2026. According to White Coat Waste, a bipartisan government watchdog, these funds supported research into animal social behavior. The university partnered with Russia's state-run Institute of Cytology and Genetics, an organization that has collaborated with the Irkutsk facility in the past.

The university received $389,943 in July 2025 and another $389,746 in September 2026. The research involved using foxes raised at a breeding facility in Siberia. White Coat Waste noted that the animals were killed before samples were sent to the university for analysis.

The watchdog group also claimed that this funding violated a 2022 directive from President Biden, which aimed to halt funding for animal testing in Russia following the commencement of the war in Ukraine. The NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services have been contacted for comment.

Concerns about the Siberian lab intensified last week after the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. Reports suggested she broke a test tube containing live bacteria, potentially leading to an infection. Russian officials stated Shipilova died from "unidentified pneumonia," and that her colleagues had contracted COVID-19 and the common cold. However, other reports indicate she may have been infected with pneumonic plague.

Following her death on October 2, hundreds of individuals she had contact with and five hospitals, including a maternity unit, were placed under quarantine. Russian media has since reported a second death in the Irkutsk region attributed to the plague. Simultaneously, reports about the initial plague case have reportedly been removed from Russian national media outlets.

Globally, the World Health Organization is seeking more information from Russia regarding the incident. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, stated that the UN health agency does not know the specific cause of Shipilova's death.

The plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is a serious infection that can manifest in various forms, including bubonic and pneumonic plague. Pneumonic plague, which affects the lungs, is particularly severe and can be fatal if not treated promptly with antibiotics. The disease is endemic to Siberia, where it is present in wild mammals and their fleas. While cases are occasionally reported in the region, human infections are generally rare.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that approximately seven cases of the plague are recorded annually in the United States, primarily in northern New Mexico and Arizona. Globally, an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 plague cases occur each year, with many reported in African countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar. The bubonic plague, the most common form, has a mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent if left untreated.