White House Monitoring Suspected Plague Outbreak in Russia
The U.S. is "monitoring the situation" after a lab worker reportedly died and hundreds were quarantined.
The White House has confirmed it is "aware" of a suspected plague outbreak in Russia and is "monitoring the situation." The U.S. response comes after reports emerged of a young lab worker dying and approximately 200 individuals being placed under quarantine.
According to initial reports, the deceased, identified as 28-year-old researcher Daria Shipilova at an anti-plague research institute in Russia's eastern Irkutsk region, allegedly died after accidentally breaking a test tube containing the plague pathogen. Russian officials have not confirmed whether she contracted the disease.
Shipilova was hospitalized with severe pneumonia, placed on a ventilator, and died shortly after. Authorities also quarantined an entire hospital and placed individuals who had contact with her under medical observation. Test results for those contacts have reportedly come back negative, and no symptoms have been observed.
Despite the lack of confirmed details from Russian authorities, regional Governor Igor Kobzev referred to the illness as a "dangerous infectious disease" and canceled public events in the Irkutsk region. Russia's public health agency stated Shipilova had "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and that further testing found no microorganisms linked to her work, asserting the regional situation is stable.
Shipilova was reportedly on an expedition near Russia's border with Mongolia when she fell ill. News outlet Lyudi Baikal reported that she informed medical staff of accidentally breaking a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples.
Concerns about the outbreak have prompted Anna Popova, head of Russia's public health watchdog, to travel to the Irkutsk region. The situation has drawn comparisons to the origins of COVID-19, which is widely believed to have started at a disease research lab in Wuhan, China.
However, some Russian experts have cast doubt on the official explanation. Senior epidemiologist Mikhal Favorov suggested the broken test tube story was unlikely for a researcher at an anti-plague institute equipped with protective gear, implying a possible cover-up.
The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute is known for its work on disease prevention and has conducted drills, including plague-response exercises at the Russia-Mongolia border. The institute itself has a history of research into various pathogens, including those related to plague.
