{"id":364626,"date":"2026-10-05T07:32:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T07:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364626\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T07:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T07:32:54","slug":"suspected-plague-outbreak-erupts-in-russia-after-scientist-dies-putin-accused-of-trying-to-cover-it-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364626\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected plague outbreak erupts in Russia after scientist dies — Putin accused of trying to cover it up"},"content":{"rendered":"

A suspected plague<\/a> outbreak has erupted in Russia \u2014 killing a young lab worker, forcing nearly 200 people into isolation and triggering accusations that Vladimir Putin\u2019s regime is trying to keep the infection\u2019s possible spread under wraps.<\/p>\n

The alarm was raised in Siberia after a worker at an anti-plague laboratory died of the disease, which killed tens of millions in the medieval Black Death, according to a report from<\/a> The Moscow Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anna Popova, who heads Russia\u2019s public-health watchdog, then rushed 2,600 miles from Moscow to the Irkutsk region as authorities quarantined a hospital and placed scores of people who had come into contact with the victim under medical observation.<\/p>\n

Workers in protective gear descended on the town of Shelekhov in Russia\u2019s Irkutsk Region. east2west news<\/p>\n

Daria Shipilova, 28, a laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk anti-plague Research Institute of Siberia and the
Far East, was the first to die of the illness after she reportedly dropped a test tube in the lab. Daria Shipilova\/e2w<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation in Shelekhov, Irkutsk region, where a plague quarantine has been declared, resembles the Wuhan case,\u201d the Russian political insider channel Nezygar warned.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, before spreading worldwide and killing more than 7 million people, according to global health estimates.<\/p>\n

So far, however, officials say none of the identified contacts has shown symptoms, and their test results have come back negative.<\/p>\n

Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, was the first reported fatality.<\/p>\n

She reportedly told\u00a0medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples for testing, according to news outlet<\/a>\u00a0Lyudi Baikala<\/a>, or People of Baikal.<\/p>\n

She first fell ill while on an expedition with other workers near Russia\u2019s eastern border with Mongolia.<\/p>\n

Shipilova sits with her colleagues at the anti-plague Institute where she worked Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute\/e2w<\/p>\n

She was hospitalized in Shelekhov on Tuesday with symptoms of severe pneumonia, placed on a ventilator and died Thursday, according to reports.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the regional Gov. Igor Kobzev declined to identify the illness, referring to it only as \u201ca dangerous infectious disease<\/a>\u201d \u2014 and canceled all public events in the region.<\/p>\n

Kobzev\u00a0urged\u00a0the public to remain calm after meeting with Popova to coordinate emergency containment measures.<\/p>\n

Putin meets with Russia\u2019s Chief Sanitary doctor Anna Popova. Kremlin.ru\/e2w<\/p>\n

\u201cAll identified contact persons have been placed under medical observation. As of today, the contacts show no signs of illness, and their laboratory test results are negative,\u201d Kobzev wrote on the Telegram message app Friday.<\/p>\n

Reports also claimed that antibiotics had run out in the Irkutsk region, prompting frightened residents to seek medical help from pharmacies and other medical facilities. <\/p>\n

Popova has not publicly commented on the reported outbreak. But senior Russian epidemiologist Mikhal Favorov disputed the account that a broken test tube caused the infection, calling it evidence of a possible cover-up, according to The Moscow Times.<\/p>\n

Workers have been conducting a series of tests of people and places in the town of Shelekhov. Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute\/e2w<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s laughable,\u201d said Favorov. \u201cSomeone working at the anti-plague Institute in Irkutsk wears a protective anti-plague suit. If you break a test tub, the likelihood of infection is actually very low. In short, It doesn\u2019t matter to the general public \u2014 they\u2019ll believe the \u2018dropped test tube story.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Favorov said Popova\u2019s involvement suggested the situation was serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely hair-raising,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWe will not be told what really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium.<\/p>\n

The three main forms are bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic plague. Symptoms can include fever, headache, chills, weakness, shortness of breath and coughing. All forms can be treated with antibiotics, particularly when treatment begins early.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A suspected plague outbreak has erupted in Russia \u2014 killing a young lab worker, forcing nearly 200 people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1840,5236,9,11,10,135216,9045,37429,9048,1076],"class_list":["post-364626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-death","tag-diseases","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-plague","tag-russia","tag-terminal-illness","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}