---
title: "Researcher at Siberian Anti-Plague Lab Dies After Accident, With Nearly 200 Under Watch"
description: "Officials say the situation is stable after a 28-year-old woman at an institute near Irkutsk died of pneumonia of unknown cause"
author: "rews desk"
published: 2026-10-04T16:23:05.335Z
modified: 2026-10-04T17:10:58Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/researcher-at-siberian-anti-plague-lab-dies-after-accident-w-6d037b
language: en
tags: ["plague", "lab", "siberia", "infection", "pneumonia", "world"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Researcher at Siberian Anti-Plague Lab Dies After Accident, With Nearly 200 Under Watch

*Officials say the situation is stable after a 28-year-old woman at an institute near Irkutsk died of pneumonia of unknown cause*

By rews desk · October 4, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/researcher-at-siberian-anti-plague-lab-dies-after-accident-w-6d037b

## In brief

- A 28-year-old researcher at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov died Thursday after a laboratory accident
- She was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause; Buryatia’s head said she died “possibly from the plague”
- At least 197 contacts were placed in medical isolation and the district hospital was quarantined, The Moscow Times reported
- Tests on close contacts are negative, the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant’s director said; a maternity hospital was also quarantined
- A former chief sanitary doctor said the infection is most likely not plague and cold weather would limit any spread

A 28-year-old researcher at an anti-plague institute in Siberia died on Thursday after a laboratory accident that Russian officials said may have released a dangerous infection, prompting quarantines and medical monitoring of nearly 200 people.

The incident occurred at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk, according to the state news agency TASS. The woman, a laboratory worker, was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” or cause, said Rospotrebnadzor, the state agency that handles infectious disease. It remained unclear what, if anything, was released in the accident.

Alexei Tsydenov, the head of the neighboring republic of Buryatia, said the woman died “possibly from the plague,” while noting that “there are no plague outbreaks” in his region. Unofficial reports carried versions of how she was exposed, including that she broke a tube containing live bacteria in the laboratory, according to [Outbreak News Today](https://outbreaknewstoday.substack.com/p/russia-189-people-under-observation). None of those accounts have been officially confirmed.

The researcher was hospitalized on Tuesday with severe pneumonia in Shelekhov, placed on a ventilator and died two days later, according to [The Moscow Times](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/02/nearly-200-people-under-observation-after-irkutsk-lab-worker-dies-from-plague-a93857). At least 197 people who may have had contact with her were placed in medical isolation, more than 100 of them in hospital wards, and the Shelekhov district hospital was put under quarantine, the newspaper reported.

Igor Kobzev, the governor of Irkutsk, urged calm on Friday. He said on Telegram that an extraordinary meeting of the regional anti-epidemic commission had been held with Russia’s chief state doctor over a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection affecting a resident of the region.”

“The sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov is stable,” Rospotrebnadzor said, adding that special measures had been carried out in connection with the employee’s case.

Nearby, the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant told staff to wear masks as a precaution. Its director, Artem Fominikh, acknowledged that “there are many rumors and conflicting reports circulating” but urged calm. “All identified close contacts are under medical supervision,” he said. “At present, they show no signs of the disease, and their laboratory test results are negative.”

The independent regional outlet Liudi Baikala reported that a quarantine had also been imposed at one of Shelekhov’s maternity hospitals.

Gennady Onishchenko, a former head of Rospotrebnadzor, told TASS on Friday that the infection was “most likely not the plague, but even if confirmed, there will be no spread of this disease.” The onset of cold weather, he said, would probably prevent transmission.

Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and takes three forms. The other two spread mostly through infected fleas, animals or tissue, but pneumonic plague can pass from person to person through respiratory particles. Patients develop fever, headache, weakness and a fast-moving pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain and cough, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization says the disease has a high fatality rate but is readily treated with antibiotics when caught in time.