plaguetracker.com evidence snapshot v1
url: https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/siberian-governor-hails-response-plague-000514372.html
captured_at: 2026-10-12T09:48:26.925Z
title: Siberian Governor Hails Response to Plague Lab Worker's Death

Governor Igor Kobzev (Getty)The governor of Russia's Irkutsk region said Thursday that authorities had handled the death of a worker at a Siberian plague research institute well, as officials declared their health checks complete without saying what killed her."Amidst intense media scrutiny, the specialists thoroughly investigated the situation. It was a test, but we passed it in worthy fashion," Gov. Igor Kobzev said in a statement.Kobzev and Russia's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said monitoring of everyone who had contact with the woman had ended and that nearly 5,000 samples had turned up no dangerous pathogens. Rospotrebnadzor said there were no epidemic risks to the region's population.Kobzev also denied reports that a laboratory accident had occurred at the institute. Authorities also called online claims of a second infection incorrect.Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died Oct. 2 at a hospital in Shelekhov, a town outside Irkutsk.Some Russian media outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that she had died of pneumonic plague after breaking a test tube containing live bacteria. Rospotrebnadzor rejected that account.Russian officials have said she died of pneumonia of unknown origin, that she had been properly vaccinated, and that no microorganisms linked to her work were found in her body. They have not said definitively whether plague could have caused her death, despite pressure from the World Health Organization and the United States.After her death, authorities quarantined the Shelekhov hospital and placed about 200 contacts under medical observation. Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk to meet with Kobzev and other officials.Russia told the WHO that no plague case had recently been reported in the region.The case drew international attention. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was monitoring it closely, and President Donald Trump said the U.S. was ready to help.Some U.S. officials questioned whether Moscow was being fully transparent.Pneumonic plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is the most contagious form of plague and can spread between people through respiratory droplets. The WHO says it can be fatal if not treated early.The Irkutsk institute was founded in 1934 to control plague outbreaks. Russia's last recorded human plague case was in 2016.Reuters contributed to this report.© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.