Donald Trump has demanded answers from Russian President Vladimir Putin after a laboratory worker in Siberia died from suspected pneumonic plague, a case that has drawn international concern. The U.S. president said he was in “very deep discussions” with Putin and that a report would likely be issued the following day, adding that another call would take place “very soon.”
The World Health Organization announced it would investigate media reports of a second possible death from the disease, a claim that could not yet be verified independently. Several hospitals were shut and placed under quarantine after the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28‑year‑old lab assistant at the Irkutsk Anti‑Plague Research Institute. Local media said she died early on 2 October after accidentally breaking a test tube containing Yersinia pestis, but scientists noted that staff normally work in full protective suits. The quarantine is expected to last three weeks, and 200 people have been put under strict medical observation, according to the independent Russian outlet Baikal People. Russian authorities have denied a link between the death and a lab leak.
Conflicting accounts describe how Shipilova fell ill. Baikal People reported that she was working with live biological material on 25 September when the test tube broke, and that her condition worsened over two days. She was initially treated for coronavirus in a specialised Covid unit before being put on a ventilator and dying on 2 October. Officials have described her death as “pneumonia of an unknown origin,” while doctors in Irkutsk have openly discussed the possibility of plague. The governor of neighbouring Buryatia initially linked the death to plague, later adding “maybe.” Masks were made compulsory at an aluminium plant in Shelekhov, and the national public health agency Rospotrebnadzor said the situation was stable.
The institute, founded in 1934, is a state‑run facility that studies plague and other diseases such as cholera, brucellosis, tularemia, anthrax and arbovirus infections. It also monitors incidents that may be suspicious of biological terrorism. International reactions include the U.S. State Department’s statement that it is aware of the fatal case, is monitoring the situation with the CDC and other partners, and is urging Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly. WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for timely, complete and transparent data sharing under the International Health Regulations. Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia noted that while plague infections occur regularly worldwide, pneumonic plague can spread person to person and laboratory‑acquired infections are not unheard of.
