{Excerpts, edited.}
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A 28-year-old female researcher working at the Irkutsk Plague Control Institute was hospitalized on September 29 with severe pneumonia and died in Sherekhov on October 2.
Russian authorities stated the cause of death was undetermined and no occupational pathogens were detected; however, independent media outlets reported further deaths in quarantine areas and hospital capacity restrictions, presenting inconsistent information.
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Before her hospitalization on September 29, Shipilova was described by colleagues as having participated in fieldwork in the Buryat region, near the Mongolian border.
Local media also reported that she broke test tubes containing live bacteria in the laboratory, but this detail has not been confirmed by Russian officials.
Rospotrebnadzor's investigation concluded that no evidence of an accident involving the handling of pathogenic microorganisms was found.
The number of contacts varies slightly from source to source, with foreign media reports totaling approximately 197 to 200, some of whom are hospitalized for observation.
Subsequent official reports indicated that common respiratory pathogens such as COVID-19 and rhinovirus were detected among those under observation, but no dangerous pathogens associated with Yersinia pestis were detected.
According to the WHO's report from Russia on October 6, no cases of pneumonic plague have been registered in Irkutsk.
Around October 1st, the hospital where Sherekhov was treated implemented limited entry and exit, with some departments suspending admissions and discharges.
Independent media outlets have described the limited access and closed-loop management of the First, Third, and Tenth Clinical Hospitals in Irkutsk, as well as the Ivano-Matreninskaya Children's Hospital, as a "pandemic model" or "three-week quarantine," though this has not been fully confirmed by officials.
On October 3, the Baikalsk government posted on Telegram, advising residents to postpone travel to Sherekhov and surrounding areas due to "unofficial confirmed cases of plague in Sherekhov." The post was deleted approximately two hours later. Independent media outlet The Insider reported that REN TV removed five articles related to the incident; Channel 5 and some print media articles were also taken down.
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On October 2nd, an aluminum plant required employees to wear masks, which was later changed to seasonal respiratory disease prevention on October 4th.
Personnel in protective suits were seen at the entrances of childcare facilities and some hospitals, and residents photographed fully equipped staff entering and exiting the Sherekhov medical center.
British media reported a 5000% year-on-year increase in searches for the Russian word "chuma," reflecting public panic, but not necessarily indicating a confirmed diagnosis.
The second death came from independent media reports after October 6th, stating that another person had died in the isolation hospital, possibly a medical staff member or a former patient.
Neither Rospotrebnadzor nor the WHO's current reports have confirmed a second death from plague or pneumonic plague. The official wording in the report can only retain phrases like "media reports, awaiting etiological report."
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Four points need to be verified: whether sputum culture, blood culture, and PCR of the deceased detected Yersinia pestis and phage typing; the fever conversion rate of approximately 200 contacts after October 9; whether the WHO obtained the original test reports; and whether the pathological autopsy in the isolation ward of Sherekhov Hospital was made public.
Without all four points, the second case and the laboratory leak remain at the level of suspicion.
Source:
Link: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1878371860695545357&wfr=spider&for=pc
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