Overview
- Regional authorities confirmed that a woman who fell ill after lab or field work died of an unspecified form of plague after being hospitalized and ventilated on Thursday.
- Health teams placed about 197 people who may have had contact with the deceased under medical observation and quarantined Shelekhov District Hospital while running laboratory tests.
- Media outlets identified the worker as Daria Shipilova and reported she told staff she broke a test tube with live bacteria, a claim that several epidemiologists have called unlikely given standard protective gear.
- Regional officials dispatched Rospotrebnadzor leadership to coordinate the response and opened a criminal investigation into possible safety violations related to the death.
- Authorities say contacts are currently asymptomatic and test negative so far, but reported local shortages of antibiotics and public alarm have raised questions about transparency and supply access while surveillance continues.