Russian agency says anti-plague worker died after unexplained pneumonia

Russia’s health watchdog said on Oct 4 that an employee of an anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk region had developed pneumonia of unknown cause, prompting emergency health measures and testing in and around Shelekhov. The 28-year-old laboratory assistant, identified by regional media as Darya Shipilova, died after being admitted to hospital, while local reports alleged that she had broken a test tube containing the plague pathogen.¹⁴⁵⁷

Conflicting accounts of a laboratory incident

Regional and international reports said Shipilova worked as a laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute. Local accounts alleged that she accidentally broke a test tube containing Yersinia pestis on Sept 25. The Independent separately reported that the worker told medical personnel she had broken a tube containing live biological samples. These reports do not establish independently what the tube contained or whether the event caused her illness.¹²⁴⁶

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s sanitary and consumer-protection agency, gave a different account. It said a commission found no accidents involving work with pathogenic microorganisms at the institute, and that an expert group sent on the orders of agency head Anna Popova endorsed that conclusion. That official finding conflicts with the accounts attributed to Shipilova’s colleagues and local media.²³⁵

The agency said expanded analysis of samples from the patient detected no microorganisms associated with her professional duties. It also said no institute employee had sought medical help for an infectious disease during the preceding 10 days. The cause of Shipilova’s pneumonia has not been publicly identified in the reports contained in the dossier.²⁵

Contacts isolated and hospitals restricted

The Independent reported that at least 197 people thought to have had direct or indirect contact with Shipilova were placed in medical isolation, including more than 100 monitored in hospital wards. Liudi Baikala initially reported that about 90 contacts were quarantined at a Covid-19 centre, with the reported total later rising to about 200. These figures have not been independently reconciled.¹⁴

Rospotrebnadzor said the response sought to identify the broadest possible group of contacts and placed them under inpatient observation with daily laboratory testing. According to the agency, screening detected two Covid-19 infections and two rhinovirus infections, but no agents responsible for other infectious diseases. It said none of the contacts developed health changes associated with infectious illness.⁵

Liudi Baikala reported that several hospitals in Irkutsk and a maternity facility introduced three-week quarantines. Meduza also reported restrictions at medical facilities, a mask requirement at the Irkutsk aluminium plant and the appearance of people wearing protective suits, masks and gloves on Shelekhov’s streets. These measures were reported locally rather than detailed in Rospotrebnadzor’s public account.²³⁴

The Independent reported that Russian law-enforcement agencies opened a criminal investigation into possible workplace health-and-safety violations. Liudi Baikala said law-enforcement patrols accompanied ambulances taking Shipilova’s contacts for examinations. In a separate Oct. 4 report, Axios said the White House was following the possible outbreak and Russia’s handling of it.¹⁴⁶

Authorities say the regional situation is stable

Rospotrebnadzor said the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, including Irkutsk and Shelekhov, remained stable and under close supervision. It said seasonal acute respiratory viral infections were occurring at levels consistent with long-term averages. Governor Igor Kobzev said identified close contacts were asymptomatic and had tested negative, according to The Independent.¹²³⁵

Concern focused on pneumonic plague, one of three forms of disease caused by Yersinia pestis. The Independent reported that it can pass between people through respiratory droplets and that the World Health Organization warns of a high death rate when it is untreated. The same report said early antibiotics and standard infection-control procedures can manage the disease.¹

Gennady Onishchenko, a former head of Rospotrebnadzor, said the illness was probably not plague and argued that wider transmission was unlikely even if plague were confirmed. Euronews reported that he also pointed to cooler conditions and the seasonal dormancy of rodents and fleas as factors that would limit potential spread. His assessment does not resolve the cause of Shipilova’s illness.¹²