Russia says no plague traces in dead Siberian lab worker as US monitors case
Russia says tests found no plague traces in samples from a 28-year-old lab technician who died at a Siberian anti-plague institute, as dozens of contacts were quarantined and the US said it was monitoring the case with the CDC.
Russia’s health watchdog has said tests found no microorganisms linked to the work of a 28-year-old laboratory technician who died at a Siberian plague research institute, after her death prompted dozens of her contacts to be quarantined (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/dozens-quarantined-siberia-after-plague-institute-lab-worker-dies-2026-10-05/). Darya Shipilova, an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died of “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”, Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/russian-lab-worker-dies-of-suspected-plague-in-siberia-us-monitoring-case).
Authorities quarantined an unspecified number of her contacts, cordoned off parts of the hospital in Shelekhov where she died, and told workers at a nearby aluminium plant to wear masks; the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, flew to the Irkutsk region for an emergency meeting (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/dozens-quarantined-siberia-after-plague-institute-lab-worker-dies-2026-10-05/). The watchdog told state media the institute had found no evidence of any accident involving the handling of pathogens, after rumours spread on social media that she had dropped a test tube containing live bacteria; media reports say nearly 200 people were placed under medical observation (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/dozens-quarantined-siberia-after-plague-institute-lab-worker-dies-2026-10-05/, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/russian-lab-worker-dies-of-suspected-plague-in-siberia-us-monitoring-case).
The US Department of State said in a statement to Al Jazeera that Washington was “monitoring the situation closely with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and our other interagency partners”, urging Russian authorities to “share accurate information quickly and openly” (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/russian-lab-worker-dies-of-suspected-plague-in-siberia-us-monitoring-case). Buryatia’s governor Alexei Tsydenov had said on Saturday that the woman had “died, maybe of the plague”, while insisting she had not travelled to Buryatia (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/russian-lab-worker-dies-of-suspected-plague-in-siberia-us-monitoring-case). Kobzev said no new cases among institute staff had been identified and that the situation was under control (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/dozens-quarantined-siberia-after-plague-institute-lab-worker-dies-2026-10-05/).
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