Woman who helped lead US response through COVID calls Russia lab outbreak ‘concerning’
Por Jasmine Fernández — – World RSS Feed
Doctor who helped lead US response through COVID calls Russia lab outbreak ‘concerning’
Federal health agencies and the State Department are monitoring reports out of eastern Russia following the death of a laboratory worker
Jasmine Fernández in Portland Monday 05 October 2026 20:52 BST
- Bookmark
- Comments Go to comments
Bookmark popover
Removed from bookmarks
Close popover
open image in gallery
Become an Independent member to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Already a member?
Log in
Former White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx has described the death of a Russian lab researcher linked to a potential pneumonic plague exposure as “concerning,” as federal agencies monitor reports that hundreds of people have been quarantined in eastern Russia.
Birx pointed to the researcher’s travel following her initial exposure as a potential agent for transmission.
“This is particularly concerning, and I know why the White House, State Department and CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] are very much aware and tracking” the situation, Birx said on Sunday’s episode of NewsNation Prime.
Russian regional authorities have placed hundreds under isolation following the death of Darya Shipilova, a late-20s technician at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Shelekhov. Independent Russian outlet Lyudi Baikal reported that at least 197 people suspected of direct or indirect contact with Shipilova were placed under medical isolation, with more than 100 currently monitored in hospital wards.
Shipilova was reportedly exposed on September 25 after accidentally breaking a test tube containing a sample of the pneumonic plague pathogen Yersinia pestis. She was hospitalized with severe pneumonia of “unknown origin” on September 29, placed on a ventilator and died overnight between October 1 and October 2.
open image in galleryBirx noted Sunday that it would be “highly unusual” for a person in their 20s to die from pneumonic plague without an “underlying condition,” suggesting a lab mishap as a likely cause.
“And this woman traveled after exposure with pneumonic,” Birx said. “The pneumonic plague means it’s in her lungs. So she had it in her lungs.
“She traveled. She potentially could have exposed many people because that is then transmissible by droplet. So a lot of concerns and a lot of reasons for the Russians to be transparent.”
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev confirmed on Telegram that an anti-epidemic commission convened over a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection,” though he did not directly acknowledge Shipilova’s death and appealed for calm.
District-wide quarantine measures have affected the Shelekhov District Hospital, a local maternity facility and an aluminum plant. Kobzev stated that all identified close contacts remain asymptomatic and have tested negative for the disease, a finding also reported by Axios.
open image in galleryRussian public health agency Rospotrebnadzor has not confirmed whether Shipilova contracted the plague.
Mikhail Favorov, a senior Russian epidemiologist, publicly questioned the official explanation during an interview with Echo.
“It’s laughable,” Favorov said. “Someone working at the Anti-Plague Institute in Irkutsk wears a protective anti-plague suit. If you break a test tube, the likelihood of infection is actually very low.
“In short, it doesn’t matter to the general public – they’ll believe the ‘broken test tube’ story. It’s absolutely hair-raising. We will not be told what really happened.”
U.S. officials have confirmed they are actively tracking the situation while urging openness from Moscow.
Traveling to Iceland on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the reports.
open image in gallery“We know what we know, obviously, about whatever the Russians have provided, which is it seems that it was a worker at the lab that was infected, and there’s concern that that, you know, could have spread, at least internally, so you see them do quarantine [unintelligible] of that nature,” Rubio said.
“But there’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously, but like anything else, something like that gets out, it could quickly spread, so we’re watching and monitoring it closely. I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it, and we’re doing that,” Rubio added.
A State Department official told NewsNation that the administration is “aware” and “monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and our other interagency partners,” while urging Russian authorities “to share accurate information quickly and openly.”
In a separate statement provided to CNN, a State Department spokesperson repeated that call, adding that “many details have not been confirmed.”
A White House official told Axios earlier Monday that the administration “is aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options.”
According to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pneumonic plague occurs when Yersinia pestis bacteria infect the lungs, either through untreated bubonic or septicemic plague or by inhaling infectious respiratory droplets from an infected human or animal.
Symptoms develop rapidly and include fever, headache, weakness, chest pain, shortness of breath, cough and watery or blood-tinged mucus. Unlike plague strains that generally pass to humans via flea bites or contact with infected animals, pneumonic plague spreads directly from person to person through airborne droplets.
The Independent has contacted the White House and the State Department for more information.
More about
RussiaplagueoutbreakWhite House
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Most popular
Popular videos
Bulletin
Read next
Fonte: – World RSS Feed
