Russia denies plague death as Siberian quarantine continues

Russian health authorities said Monday that a laboratory assistant who died last week at an anti-plague institute in Siberia did not have plague, though quarantine restrictions remain in place at several hospitals in the region. Daria Shipilova, 28, a worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, may have contracted pneumonic plague after a test tube broke in the lab, according to regional media citing unidentified security sources. Over 60 institute staff have been isolated inside the building since Friday, with relatives reporting they slept on floors and chairs without beds. Several hospitals in Irkutsk and the Shelekhov district hospital have been closed, and mask use was made mandatory at a local aluminum plant. Rospotrebnadzor said tests found no pathogens linked to Shipilova's work and no accidents involving pathogenic microorganisms were recorded. Two Covid-19 cases and two rhinovirus infections were detected among her contacts. The Irkutsk governor said a special commission concluded her death was from "pneumonia of unknown etiology," while the Kremlin spokesman urged journalists to rely on official statements rather than rumors. Plague is a bacterial disease; pneumonic plague, the most contagious form, is fatal without early antibiotic treatment. Russia has recorded isolated plague cases since 2014, mostly linked to rodent transmission during skinning.