this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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Mass quarantine issued in Russia after unexplained death of plague researcher (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net to c/news@lemmy.world
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Roughly 200 people are under medical observation, several hospitals are under quarantine, and dozens are in isolation in Russia following the unexplained death of an infectious disease researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia, in the town of Shelekhov, according to early reports of the situation on Sunday and Monday.

Researcher Darya Shipilova reportedly died last week from pneumonia of “unknown” cause, according to Rospotrebnadzor, a Russian public health agency.

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[–] BauerBender@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Y. pestis can cause several forms of plague: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic—the latter of which can be aggressive and quickly fatal. However, the pathogen is generally easily treated by antibiotics. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendsthat anyone exposed to the pathogen should undergo an immediate seven-day post-exposure antibiotic prophylaxis treatment. Additionally, though pneumonic plague is spread via respiratory particles from coughing, it is not considered highly infectious; it requires direct, close contact for the bacteria to be transmitted.

I’ll probably get downvoted, but don’t buy out the TP yet.

[–] Waterpumpee@lemmus.org 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

more over it wasnt even extinct yet. A few cases happen yearly in congo and other parts of the world. Its just our life style (no rats, fleas) is hindering the spreading.

[–] iocase@lemmy.zip 1 points 15 hours ago

From what I heard, this region gets regular cases which is exactly why they have this facility there.

[–] Manjushri@piefed.social 6 points 20 hours ago

Labs studying dangerous diseases will allow them, or even cause them to mutate in ways that they may potentially mutate in nature. This is called gain of function research. You let the virus mutate and then study the results of the mutation to learn how to fight it if and when it occurs in the wild.

That's the most concerning part to me. Even if this lab wasn't working on creating a weaponized strain of the virus, the escaped pathogen could still be a mutated and more dangerous strain than is typically found in nature. Just the possibility of this would justify the significant quarantine response in the area.

[–] gibmiser@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Nope, too cliche. Its too on the nose.

[–] lemmyng@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Uh oh, back to the writer's room!

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What if calling it plague is the cover up?

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 0 points 1 day ago

russia had a bunch of other incidents of this magnitude in its past. smallpox, anthrax,,,etc during the cold war.

[–] mHtt@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

clandestine lab in remote village in isolated region requires quarantine.

[–] Somsphet@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 day ago

Can't wait to find the audio logs of those researchers.

[–] Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Normal pneumonic plague is 100% fatality rate without intervention, but easily cured with early antibiotics. So it kind of comes down to if this is "normal".

We probably won't know without international contact

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 20 hours ago

I'm gonna guess no, by the way Russia, of all countries, is handling it.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

the normal plague, is usually bubonic which carry by plague fleas. pneumonic is person to person.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

I think they’re getting at whether this pneumonic plague variant is the standard pneumonic variant caused by normal yersinia pestis, or whether it’s been augmented by the lab in any way.

[–] RecursiveParadox@piefed.social 2 points 18 hours ago

I saw this in the paper today and was really freaked out: I wandered off task at work on Wikipedia yesterday and was reading about the Aral Sea drying up ...and the weapons labs there.

Different region, but still creeped me out all The Stand style.

[–] IamMoonPie@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don’t think it’s unexplained… she was exposed to the pneumonic plague after a test vile broke. Two days later she died.

Seeeeems kind of explainable to me…

[–] DrunkenDuckling@lemmus.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If you turn off your brain maybe... The plague is very easily treatable with modern antibiotics so its a lacking explanation.

P.S. Its spelled "vial"

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

Treatment doesn't necessarily mean you're guaranteed to make it out. People die from "easily treatable" stuff all the time.

[–] kikutwo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What is the unexplained part?

[–] CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net 2 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

The head of the Russian region that neighbors Irkutsk, Alexey Tsydenov, initially reported that she had died of plague but later altered his statement to say she “possibly” died of the disease.

the pathogen is generally easily treated by antibiotics.... Additionally, though pneumonic plague is spread via respiratory particles from coughing, it is not considered highly infectious; it requires direct, close contact for the bacteria to be transmitted.

[–] CrimeIsLegalNow@ani.social 4 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Yeah, it's very strange to have a case of plague that can't be treated with antibiotics, it has little resistance as it's mostly eradicated in the wild. There's a couple thousand cases every year but I've never heard anyone being particularly concerned of it developing into a true danger simply because it is taken so seriously.

For someone to die in a setting like this would require something really strange, like them lying about the disease(s) she was exposed to or the strain, for some reason, having broad antibiotic resistance.

[–] realitaetsverlust@piefed.zip 3 points 1 day ago

You know what they say: If you can't win against them, develop biochemical weapons and murder them