Authorities in Russia’s Irkutsk region are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 28-year-old employee of an anti-plague research institute, after which around 200 people were placed under medical observation. The cause of her death has still not been officially confirmed, while reports of a possible leak of the plague pathogen remain unverified.
This was reported by The Economist.
The case concerns 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute and died on October 2 at a regional hospital.
According to the publication, rumors spread following her death that a test tube containing the plague pathogen had allegedly broken in the laboratory. There has been no official confirmation of this version.
At the same time, around 200 people who had contact with Shipilova are under medical observation. The Economist notes that this may indicate concerns among the authorities that her illness was infectious.
Russia’s federal sanitary watchdog said that “no evidence of microorganisms related to her professional activities” had been found. The cause of death was described as “pneumonia of unknown etiology.”
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, said that there is no officially confirmed cause of death.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the American authorities are “watching and monitoring” the situation closely.
The Economist notes that the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which causes plague, can lead to bubonic and pneumonic forms of the disease. Bubonic plague can be treated with antibiotics at an early stage, but without treatment it can develop into pneumonic plague, which can be transmitted by respiratory droplets and has a significantly higher mortality rate.
Filippa Lentzos, a biosecurity expert at King’s College London, said that the lack of transparency surrounding the incident is concerning.
According to her, plague belongs to a group of dangerous pathogens with a high capacity for transmission and significant mortality. The same category includes anthrax, smallpox and viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola.
The Economist also notes that plague can be considered a potential biological weapons agent because it can be aerosolized and modified to increase resistance to antibiotics.
The publication recalls that the Soviet Union had a large-scale secret biological weapons program. In 1992, then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin acknowledged its existence and agreed to dismantle it.
At the same time, the article notes that Russia continues to maintain a high level of secrecy surrounding military biological facilities.
Based on unofficial information currently available to the WHO, the risk to the general population is assessed as low. At the same time, there is no evidence that the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute is linked to biological weapons programs.
