ShelekhovHospital view, 2026.10.08.
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A view of the medical center for treating infectious diseases in Shelekhov outside Irkutsk in Russia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
ID: 26281337684020 Submission Date: Oct 8, 2026 6:27 PM Creation Date: Oct 8, 2026 7:26 PM Photographer: Uncredited Source: AP Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved Credit: AP Photo/ Transmission Reference: XAZ104 Byline Title: str Caption Writer: AZ Subjects: Health Photographer: Uncredited Location: Irkutsk, RussiaThe honest use is assumed (as a button of the link to the publication).
Russian official seeks to turn the page on a suspected pneumonic plague case but questions remain
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
No later than 2026.10.10.
A Russian official on Thursday sought to turn the page on the suspicious death of a worker at a plague research lab in Siberia, saying a quarantine and other preventive measures had been completed with no dangerous pathogens detected.
The statement by Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev came a day after the World Health Organization requested more information from Russia about the death of the worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia that sparked global concerns about a possible case of pneumonic plague.
Media reports in Russia blamed the Oct. 2 death of the woman, whom news outlets identified as Darya Shipilova, 28, on pneumonic plague, which can spread from person to person. Russian authorities have kept a tight lid on information about the case, saying only that the woman contracted pneumonia of “unknown” origin and that her tests were negative for the pathogens she worked with.
Kobzev’s statement didn’t provide details about what exactly caused the woman’s pneumonia and what kind of pathogens she worked with. He also did not explicitly say that her death was not caused by pneumonic plague.
The woman had “community-acquired” pneumonia — a type of pneumonia contracted outside of a hospital setting, Kobzev said. She had been “vaccinated and immune” to the pathogens she worked with at the institute, he said.
No accidents had been detected at the institute, where “adequate control measures for working with pathogenic microorganisms” have been verified to be in place, he added.
The hospital where she died was placed under quarantine and those who came in contact with her were put under medical observation. Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, flew to the Irkutsk region last week, and a special commission of experts was formed to deal with the case.
Observed 2026.10.10.