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Nearly 200 people have been placed under medical observation in Russia's Siberia region after a laboratory worker died from a reported case of plague,
according to media reports and statements from regional officials. The woman, identified as 28-year-old Daria Sh., reportedly worked at an anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk region. She was hospitalized in Shelekhov after developing severe symptoms and was placed on a ventilator before dying two days later. Reports have offered differing accounts of the form of plague involved. Some described it as bubonic plague, while others reported that she may have contracted pneumonic plague. There was no immediate official confirmation of the specific form.
Hospital Placed Under Quarantine As Contacts Monitored
The Shelekhov District Hospital was placed under quarantine following the woman's death. At least 197 people who may have had contact with her were reportedly placed under medical observation, including more than 100 in hospital wards.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said all identified contacts had been placed under medical observation and that those tested had shown no signs of illness. He urged the public to remain calm as authorities coordinated containment measures.
Reports said Daria may have accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples for testing. Another report claimed she may have been bitten by a laboratory rat. The circumstances of her infection remain unclear.
Regional officials have described the illness as a “particularly dangerous infectious disease,” while Russia's Chief State Sanitary Doctor Anna Popova travelled to Irkutsk to take part in the emergency response.
The Shelekhov district hospital was placed under quarantine, while public events in Irkutsk were reportedly canceled as authorities carried out containment measures.
Russian sources have also reported active natural plague foci in areas where the scientist had recently worked or explored, including secluded areas near the Russia-Mongolia border. Mongolian sources said cultures of the plague pathogen had been isolated and an active focus had been found.
Authorities said none of the identified contacts tested positive or showed signs of illness. The last registered case of plague in Russia was reported in 2016, when a 10-year-old boy became infected after skinning a marmot carcass.
