Russian lab worker's death sparks plague panic online despite low WHO risk

The death of a 28-year-old Russian lab worker at Siberia’s Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute has sparked online panic about a plague outbreak, despite the World Health Organization assessing the public health risk in Russia as low. The woman, identified by Russian media as Daria Shipilova, died two days after falling ill at work, but the exact circumstances remain unclear. Unverified theories circulating online include a laboratory accident with a test tube, illness after a field trip near the Mongolian border, or travel to Thailand, none of which have evidence. Russian officials rejected claims of a lab exposure, saying no work-related microorganisms were detected and no other employees were sick. Misinformation has spread through misleading posts and out-of-context videos, including one from Alex Jones falsely linking temperature checks to plague, when the footage actually showed screening for Covid-19 on a flight from Thailand. A WHO fact sheet update on plague was also wrongly connected to the case, though it was part of a broader disease report.