Russian authorities are attempting to reassure the international community regarding the death of a young woman who worked at a Siberian anti-plague laboratory. However, measures to isolate her contacts and introduce new disease control measures in local hospitals have raised concerns among the public, who suspect they are not being given the full information.
The woman was a lab assistant at the Siberian Research Anti-Plague Institute in southeastern Russia. Numerous questions have arisen regarding the nature of the illness she contracted and the reasons why Russian authorities rushed to isolate her contacts while downplaying the possibility that she died of plague.
CNN learned that a local maternity hospital is conducting comprehensive medical examinations of patients and requiring them to fill out questionnaires about suspicious symptoms related to 'plague' and other infectious diseases.
Ulyana Gavryunina, a 29-year-old blogger from Angarsk, a city in the Irkutsk region, told CNN that she had to change maternity hospitals at 40 weeks of pregnancy due to imposed quarantine restrictions that prevented her husband from being with her during childbirth. When she arrived for a scheduled appointment at the Irkutsk Perinatal Center, her mother, who usually accompanied her, refused her entry.
Staff measured her temperature, asked her to stick out her tongue, ordered her to wear a mask, disinfect her hands, and fill out two questionnaires. One of them was titled 'Checklist for Suspected High-Risk Infectious Disease Plague' and listed symptoms such as high fever and chest pain. The staff did not mention plague, only informing her about an unidentified 'new virus' and the need for additional precautions to protect infants.
Gavryunina noted that the atmosphere inside the hospital was calm. 'Everything was as usual,' she told CNN. 'Everyone wore masks, that's all.'
Her biggest concern was being told that her husband would no longer be able to accompany her during childbirth, even if he passed additional medical examinations.
For other residents, the restrictions in hospitals sparked questions about the transparency of government actions. One resident of Irkutsk, who left a comment under Gavryunina's post on social media, noted: 'It feels like we are not being told the whole story.' He added: 'Everyone is told it's pneumonia, not plague. But hospitals are still in quarantine, and ambulance doctors are driving in full Covid suits.'
Another local resident, identified as Ekaterina, told CNN that life continues as usual. She reported that although some of her acquaintances 'are slightly panicking,' she saw no significant changes on the streets. 'Everything is as usual, there are no visible changes,' said Ekaterina.
However, many expressed skepticism in local Telegram groups. One user asked: 'Who are you telling these stories to?'
According to the independent regional news outlet Lyudi Baikala, the 28-year-old lab assistant Daria Shipilova was hospitalized on September 29. According to available information, she died in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town about 12 miles southwest of Irkutsk, late last week. Her friend told CNN that she died on October 2, but confirmed no other details.
Unconfirmed reports suggest she fell ill after a possible leak from the laboratory or contracted it while traveling to another region. Rospotrebnadzor of Russia stated that she died of pneumonia of 'unknown' origin, and the agency downplayed suspicions that her illness was related to her work.
The first sign of a potential problem appeared on October 2, when the Governor of Irkutsk, Igor Koznev, posted a message on Telegram stating that Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, had called an 'emergency meeting' regarding a suspected case of 'especially dangerous infection' in a resident of the region. Koznev did not mention plague, but Alexey Tsydenov, head of neighboring Buryatia, raised the issue in a statement, saying that the woman 'died of plague in the Irkutsk region.' According to Russian media reports, his statement was later edited to indicate that she 'possibly died of plague.'
Despite the fact that it is unknown what the lab assistant suffered from or how she was infected, Russia's opaque response has fueled speculation. The Russian healthcare service assured local residents that the 'epidemiological situation' is stable, but local media reported that 60 employees of the Research Anti-Plague Institute were in quarantine, and several hospitals were subject to restrictions.
The Kremlin urged people to trust updates from the healthcare service rather than 'various rumors and speculations.' When asked for more information on Tuesday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov again directed journalists to the healthcare service, noting that it 'continues its work.' However, the service released limited information.
US President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that he has a planned call with Russian President Vladimir Putin 'very soon' to discuss the deceased researcher. Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Russia to share more information about the circumstances of the researcher's death. 'I think Russia clearly has an obligation to share more information with the world,' he said. 'It might be more serious than we think. We don't know, but I believe it would be reckless to speculate right now given the limited information we have.'
The World Health Organization (WHO) contacted Russian health authorities to 'verify the event, its circumstances, conducted laboratory tests, and their results.' WHO stated: 'Based on unofficial information available to the public, the risk to public health appears low.'
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Tuesday that Russian health authorities informed WHO that no cases of plague have recently been registered in the Irkutsk region, in response to WHO's inquiry. He specified that Russian health authorities informed WHO that an epidemiological investigation was conducted, contacts were identified and tested, and they were placed under medical observation. Tedros added that Russian health authorities found no high-risk pathogens among the contacts.
Despite these assurances, several countries in the region have stated that they are monitoring the situation and have implemented protective measures. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan have introduced quarantine controls at state border crossings. Uzbekistan stated that it has 'increased the readiness' of its authorities to combat highly infectious diseases.
However, China, which has experience controlling infectious diseases with Russia, has not implemented additional border measures. According to Flightradar24, viewed by CNN, flights from Irkutsk to China have not been canceled in recent days. Travel through the Heihe port—a major border crossing connecting Heilongjiang province in northeastern China with the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk—remains normal, a seller from the Heyhe China travel agency reported on Tuesday. They had received no notifications about border control. CNN requested information from Chinese customs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on whether Beijing plans to introduce any border measures. China is currently observing a national holiday.
According to its website, the Anti-Plague Institute has about 95 researchers and is a major public health institution responsible for monitoring and preventing outbreaks of high-risk bacterial and viral infections across Siberia and the Russian Far East. The institute was founded in 1934 to combat plague and continues to study this disease, as Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, still circulates in the wild in some parts of Siberia and neighboring regions.
[