A tragic laboratory incident in Siberia has put health authorities on high alert. ⁠ ⁠ Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab technician, passed away from severe pneumonia shortly after a workplace accident at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. ⁠ ⁠ Reports indicate that on September 25, a test tube containing Yersinia pestis—the bacterium behind the plague—may have broken. Shipilova showed severe symptoms just two days later and tragically died on October 2. ⁠ ⁠ The official containment response was swift: the Shelekhov district hospital was placed under quarantine, and nearly 200 contacts were isolated or put under medical monitoring. While Russian officials publicly classify the illness as "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and have launched a safety investigation, top health officials traveled from Moscow to oversee the situation. Pneumonic plague can spread via respiratory droplets, but no further cases have been detected so far. ⁠ ⁠ #health #science #russia #plague #news