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Could the world be on the verge of another pandemic? That’s the fear that has US officials on alert after a young employee at a Russian institute that specializes in studying infectious diseases — including plague — died from an illness whose cause has yet to be officially confirmed.
Russian health authorities insist the death of Darya Shipilova, 28, was not caused by her work at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, but nearly 200 people are reportedly being isolated in connection with her mysterious passing.
A “plague quarantine has been declared” over Shipilova’s death, which reportedly came after a test tube with plague pathogens broke while she was working, according to an English translation of a post by Nezygar, a prominent Russian Telegram channel. The situation resembles the suspected Wuhan lab leak that many believe triggered the COVID-19 pandemic nearly seven years ago.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is closely monitoring the potential outbreak, but suggested it wasn’t cause for alarm. He noted: “There’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously. But like anything else, something like that gets out, it could certainly spread.”
Plague Panic
The Russian health agency Rospotrebnadzor confirmed the lab worker died of pneumonia, but claimed it was of an “unknown” origin. “No micro-organisms associated with the employee’s professional duties were detected in samples taken from the patient,” the agency insisted.
If that’s true, then why did Anna Popova, leader of the agency, meet with Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev to address what he described as a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection affecting a resident” of the region? Kobzev wrote on Telegram that Rospotrebnadzor “has organized and is implementing a full range of anti-epidemic measures.” The governor also noted that “all identified contacts have been placed under medical observation.” “As of today, the contacts show no signs of illness, and laboratory test results are negative,” he added.
If the alarm over the lab worker’s death is truly much ado about nothing, then emergency meetings and quarantines would seem like a serious overreaction. If, however, Russia is downplaying the illness and Shipilova’s death was caused by plague pathogens, then the additional precautions would at least be somewhat understandable.
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The most common form of plague, known as the bubonic plague, is transmitted by fleas from animals to humans. Pneumonic plague, on the other hand, is less common but far more dangerous. “Plague can be a very severe disease in people, with a case-fatality ratio of 30% to 60% for the bubonic type,” and is always fatal for the pneumonic and septicemic kinds when left untreated, the World Health Organization explains.
The Good News
President Donald Trump said he hasn’t spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the mysterious death, but offered to help Russia tackle the situation. “We’ll help,” Trump told reporters. “Everybody who has that kind of a problem, we’ll always help.”
A plague outbreak sounds more frightening than COVID-19, but the good news is that antibiotic treatments already exist to fight plague bacteria. Still, early diagnosis is critical — so Russia would do well to fess up if the illness killed Shipilova.
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