Darya Shipilova: Who was Russian anti-plague lab worker who died? Moscow accused of covering up leak

Darya Shipilova worked in a place devoted to studying one of the world’s most feared infectious diseases. The 28-year-old laboratory worker was employed at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, a specialist facility in eastern Russia.

She died on October 2 after developing severe pneumonia, according to reports. Russian health authorities have described the illness as “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”, meaning its cause has not been established, news agency Reuters reported.

Her death has since become the centre of a public-health scare in Siberia, after reports circulated that she may have contracted pneumonic plague,  the respiratory form of a disease caused by Yersinia pestis. But there is currently no confirmed evidence that Shipilova died from plague or that she contracted an infection through her work.

Who was Darya Shipilova? The lab worker at the centre of Russia’s plague scare

Little else about her life has been reported.

Authorities say they found no laboratory accident involving pathogens.

No link between her work and her illness has been established.

“What concerns me most at present is less evidence of a large outbreak than the uncertainty and contradictory information around the incident.”

“We still need a clear account of the diagnosis, the route of exposure, what exactly happened in the lab, and whether the containment and reporting procedures worked as intended.”

What caused the illness that killed her?

Shipilova’s condition deteriorated rapidly before she was taken to a hospital in Shelekhov, a town near Irkutsk. She died there on October 2, according to Reuters.

Unconfirmed reports circulating in Russian media have suggested that she may have been exposed to plague bacteria following an accident involving a test tube at the laboratory. But Russian authorities have not confirmed that account.

The Guardian reported that another account linked the onset of her illness to a work trip to Buryatia. Neither explanation has been publicly confirmed by Russian health authorities.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s public-health watchdog, said extensive testing found “no microorganisms associated with the patient’s professional activities”. It also said investigators found no incidents at the institute involving pathogenic microorganisms.

The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute is a specialist facility with a long history of studying dangerous infectious diseases.The Washington Post reported that the institute was established in the 1930s as an anti-plague organisation and later expanded its work to diseases including cholera, brucellosis, tularemia and anthrax.

She was working at an institute dedicated to researching plague when she developed severe pneumonia and died. Yet authorities say there is no evidence so far linking her illness to the pathogens handled at her workplace.

It has not been confirmed as yet. Rospotrebnadzor said Shipilova was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown aetiology” and that extensive testing found no microorganisms associated with her professional activities. The Independent and local media have raised the possibility that she died from pneumonic plague, but those reports remain unconfirmed.

Authorities placed the hospital in Shelekhov, where Shipilova was treated under quarantine and began monitoring people who had been in contact with her.

Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, travelled to the Irkutsk region and met regional officials as authorities coordinated their response. Governor Igor Kobzev said identified contacts had been placed under medical observation and that they were showing no signs of illness, with laboratory tests returning negative results. News agency Associated Press reported that two contacts tested positive for a virus that causes a common cold and two others for Covid-19. Other people who were tested were negative, according to the agency.

The Telegraph reported that local pro-Kremlin websites and some local officials deleted posts referring to the suspected plague case. One local authority reportedly advised residents against travelling to Shelekhov after unofficial information about a possible plague infection emerged, before the post was removed.

The Guardian reported that Alexey Tsydenov, head of neighbouring Buryatia, initially wrote that Shipilova had died of plague before editing his post to say she had “possibly” died of the disease. Authorities in Baikalsk also briefly advised residents not to travel to Shelekhov, citing unofficial information about a possible plague infection, before deleting the post.

Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a former commanding officer of the UK’s Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, told The Telegraph that Russian authorities had “clammed up” over the incident.

“We should be worried [about what’s happened in Russia] because plague has a long history of causing mayhem,” he said.“For a lab technician working with plague to die from plague is extraordinary. She should have been vaccinated, there should have been medical countermeasures,” he said.

Russian authorities have repeatedly rejected speculation that there is a confirmed plague outbreak. Rospotrebnadzor said Shipilova died from “pneumonia of unknown aetiology” and that tests found no microorganisms linked to her professional work. The agency also said it had found no incidents involving pathogenic microorganisms at the institute, Reuters reported.

Kobzev said there had been no new cases of anti-plague institute staff seeking medical attention and described the situation as “stable”, according to Reuters.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged the public and media to rely on Rospotrebnadzor’s official statements rather than “rumours and speculation.”

Former Rospotrebnadzor chief Gennady Onishchenko also said the infection was “most likely not the plague”, CNN reported, while cautioning that even if plague were confirmed, he did not expect it to spread.

AP reported that two people who had been in contact with Shipilova tested positive for a virus that causes a common cold and two others tested positive for Covid-19. Other people tested were negative, according to the agency.

Kobzev said those identified as contacts were under medical observation and had shown no symptoms, with laboratory testing returning negative results.

Pneumonic plague is one of the three main forms of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It affects the lungs and can be transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets. It is the most serious form of plague and can become fatal quickly if untreated, but it can be treated with antibiotics when detected early.

The disease is associated with the same bacterium that caused historic outbreaks of bubonic plague, including the Black Death. Plague remains endemic in parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East, where Yersinia pestis occurs naturally among small wild mammals and their fleas. Human cases in Russia are rare.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was monitoring the situation but did not believe there was cause for alarm.“We’re watching and monitoring it closely. I don’t think it’s cause for alarm,” Rubio said. He added that if an infection were to spread, it could spread quickly.

The Financial Times reported that US officials were closely monitoring the suspected case, while The Guardian reported that the US was watching developments because of the potential for a respiratory infection to spread.

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