A 27-year-old patient died at the Shelekhov hospital in the Irkutsk region. Following her death, the facility was closed for quarantine, and all individuals who had been in contact with the woman were isolated and placed under close medical observation. Specialists have not yet determined the exact cause of death, but reports of possible plague infection have begun circulating on social media.
The patient was admitted to the hospital on September 29. Initially, doctors suspected severe COVID-19, but later suspicions arose regarding possible plague infection. Consequently, various Telegram channels, including SHOT, Baza, and Mash, reported information that the deceased had worked at a plague institute and might have been infected during a business trip to Buryatia or due to a damaged vial in the laboratory.
The Irkutsk Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology refuted these claims, stating that the woman never worked at their institution and that the institute does not study the plague pathogen. At present, other relevant structures and Rospotrebnadzor have not provided information about the deceased's place of employment.
The Governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, initiated an emergency meeting of the sanitary and anti-epidemic commission, which was attended by the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova.
In total, 197 people who had contact with the deceased were identified. Of these, 189 people have been hospitalized for preventive observation, and eight remain outside the hospital. Authorities announced that all contacts showed no signs of illness, and laboratory test results were negative. As a result, the laboratory at the Shelekhov hospital has temporarily suspended operations, as well as patient admission and discharge from several departments.
The last registered case of plague among humans in Russia dates back to 2016 in Altai. If current suspicions prove true, this would be the first such case in the Irkutsk region in the last ten years. Nevertheless, natural foci of infection persist in various regions of the country. In 2025, animal infections were recorded in the Central Caucasian, Gorno-Altai, and Tuva foci, but human cases were not registered.
It is also mentioned that in September 2025, a person died of bubonic plague in Khubsugul aimag, which borders Russia. Furthermore, at the end of August 2026, Russian and Mongolian specialists confirmed the presence of the plague pathogen in the Tsagaan-Uul commune of Khubsugul aimag. In September, Rospotrebnadzor reported high activity of the natural focus on the border between the two countries.
