Darya Shipilova, a technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, died overnight Oct. 1–2 after developing severe pneumonia. Nearly 200 contacts were identified, with 189 reportedly hospitalized for observation, and five medical facilities reportedly imposed quarantine restrictions. Reports that she broke a test tube containing live plague bacteria remain unconfirmed.
Russia’s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor described the diagnosis as “pneumonia of unknown etiology” and denied that a laboratory accident occurred. Russian officials said post-mortem tests found no traces of plague. No secondary plague cases have been confirmed.