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Plague is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which primarily infects small rodents and is transmitted to humans via the bite of infected fleas or direct contact with infected tissues. Historically responsible for devastating pandemics like the Black Death in the 14th century, which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe.
A Russian lab worker died after a suspected lab accident involving plague bacteria at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia, triggering quarantine measures for nearly 200 contacts.
The incident reportedly occurred on September 25, 2026, when a 28-year-old researcher, identified as Darya Shipilova, accidentally broke a test tube containing live Yersinia pestis bacteria. She was hospitalized with severe pneumonia and died on October 2, 2026, in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk. But Russian authorities say no accident involving dangerous pathogens occurred.
Why is Moscow being so "mysterious" about this incident?
Lack of transparency from Russian authorities regarding the death of lab technician Darya Shipilova stems from conflicting official narratives and historical secrecy surrounding the nation’s biological research.
While the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor attribute the death to "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and deny any lab accident, independent media reports allege Shipilova died after breaking a test tube containing live Yersinia pestis bacteria.
Russia maintains the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East because plague remains endemic in the region, with Yersinia pestis naturally circulating in rodent populations such as marmots and susliks.
Founded in 1934, the institute is a critical public health facility responsible for surveillance, prevention, and rapid response to outbreaks of especially dangerous bacterial and viral infections, including plague, cholera, anthrax, and tularemia, across the Siberian and Far Eastern federal districts.
Does the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute meet international standards?
There is no definitive confirmation that the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute currently meets international biosafety standards, as the investigation into the recent fatality is ongoing and Russian authorities have denied any safety breaches.
Biosafety experts note that if the facility operated at the required Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) standards—mandating negative pressure and full isolation suits for handling Yersinia pestis—the reported contagion should not have occurred, suggesting a potential failure in containment protocols.
Russian health agency Rospotrebnadzor stated that a commission found no emergency situations involving pathogenic microorganisms and that the institute complied with all biological safety requirements.
Critics and international observers highlight that independent visibility into Russian biosafety performance is limited, and the Biological Weapons Convention lacks robust inspection mechanisms to verify compliance with international norms.
BUBONIC PLAGUE
The Russian incident reminds me of the following:
Below is a summary from a timeline I compiled in 2020 to have a better picture of how China handled the outbreaks of bubonic plague.
On November 3, 2019, a couple infected with the bubonic plague was transported to Beijing.
On November 12th that year, China reported a bubonic plague case. But Li Jifeng, a doctor at Chaoyang Hospital where the plague patients received treatment, wrote in a personal blog post that the infected couple was transported to Beijing nine days earlier. The doctor's blog post, published on China's popular messaging platform WeChat, was quickly removed.
The following day, two cases of the fatal and highly infectious illness, which is related to bubonic plague, were found in Beijing, prompting fears of an outbreak.
Four days later, Inner Mongolia reported a fresh, confirmed case of bubonic plague, despite an earlier declaration by the country’s health officials that the risk of an outbreak was minimal.
The health commission of the autonomous region said a 55-year-old man (the mentioned hunter) was diagnosed with the disease after he ate wild rabbit meat on Nov. 5. Beijing waited 12 days to make it public.
A fourth case was reported on November 24th.
WUHAN LAB
COVID-19 was first identified in China in December 2019. I tracked its progression from a local outbreak to a nationwide epidemic, which ultimately evolved into a global pandemic.
However, the timeline I created for this is exceptionally long (December 1, 2019, through May 19, 2020); it details how the virus arrived in Wuhan, how it spread within the city, and how it subsequently moved across China and eventually the entire world.
The following section concerns how the virus reached Wuhan—something the Chinese have consistently denied.
It began with the Chinese scientist Shi Zhengli, known by the nickname "Bat Woman." She was in a cave south of Wuhan, teeming with horseshoe bats, where she collected fecal samples. The scientist flew with the samples to an airport north of Wuhan, from where she and her colleagues drove through the city, as the laboratory was located in the southern part of Wuhan.
At that time (January 8, 2020), it was known that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had already been studying the presence of coronaviruses in bats for at least a year. China never issued a statement explaining how they were able to determine within a month that the pathogen involved was a coronavirus.
On January 26, 2020, news emerged suggesting that the virus originated from a military laboratory. The report noted that Radio Free Asia had rebroadcast a 2015 television report from Wuhan featuring China's most advanced virus research facility: the Wuhan Institute of Virology. According to the television broadcaster, the laboratory is the only site in China capable of handling deadly viruses. However, Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state-controlled media that early indications pointed to the virus originating from wild animals sold at a fish market in Wuhan.
The laboratory was used by Chinese and American scientists alike, as well as by the Chinese military. It was funded by the Americans.
On February 6, 2020, Botao Xiao, a scientist specializing in molecular biomechanics at the South China University of Technology, published a paper concluding that the coronavirus outbreak originated in the laboratory. He cited past failures to adhere to safety protocols and noted that accidents had occurred.
The prevailing theory is that a horseshoe bat escaped captivity and attacked scientists present at the facility. It was never clear how the animal managed to escape.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) failed to meet the strictest international biosafety standards in several respects regarding the type of research conducted there.
American scientists working at the lab had terminated their collaboration for precisely these reasons.
One question remained unanswered: was Shi Zhengli conducting civilian or military research? This question was of great significance at the time, as she was in charge of the laboratory.
What about Russia?
Under the International Health Regulations (IHR), Russia is legally required to assess the incident and notify the World Health Organization (WHO) if a public health emergency of international concern exists.
More specifically, Article 6 requires notification within 24 hours of an assessment indicating such an emergency, while Article 7 mandates reporting any unexpected or unusual public health event—including infections linked to laboratory work—regardless of its origin.
Moscow did not report the incident involving the plague sample—which was released after a glass vial broke, exposing dozens of people—within 24 hours. This (deliberate) failure to act raises questions and invites speculation.
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