Test Tube Accident or Buryatia Trip? Conflicting Reports Emerge Over How Russian Lab Worker Fell Ill

A Russian laboratory worker's death has sparked a health scare in Siberia, but conflicting reports have emerged over how she became seriously ill, with one account pointing to a broken test tube containing live bacteria and another suggesting a reported work trip to Buryatia.

Daria Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov and was hospitalised with severe pneumonia before dying early on 2 October. Nearly 200 people who may have come into contact with her were reportedly placed under medical observation, while the hospital where she was treated was quarantined.

Russian health authorities have not confirmed that Shipilova had plague or that a laboratory accident caused her illness.

Test-Tube Accident Reported at Anti-Plague Institute

One account centres on an alleged laboratory accident on 25 September.

According to reports cited by The Moscow Times, Shipilova reportedly told medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples at the institute. She was later hospitalised with severe pneumonia, placed on a ventilator, and died several days later.

Other reports have described the suspected illness as pneumonic plague, a severe form of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The bacterium is primarily carried by small mammals and their fleas, although people can be exposed through contact with infected animals or, in the case of pneumonic plague, through respiratory droplets.

In one reported account, the alleged point of exposure was her workplace, where live Yersinia pestis was reportedly handled. However, neither the reported laboratory exposure nor the diagnosis of plague has been independently established.

Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor described Shipilova's condition as pneumonia of unknown aetiology and said its investigation found no emergency involving pathogenic microorganisms at the institute. Expanded testing also detected no microorganisms linked to her professional activity.

Separate Reports Point to Buryatia Trip

A second account linked Shipilova's illness to a reported work trip to Buryatia. According to reports attributed to the Russian Telegram channel Mash, she had returned from a work trip to Buryatia, a Russian republic bordering Mongolia.

That account has been disputed by Buryatia's head, Alexei Tsydenov. He said Shipilova had not visited the republic and that there were no plague outbreaks there, including in areas bordering Mongolia.

The competing accounts have left the circumstances surrounding Shipilova's illness unresolved.

What Russian Authorities Say

Rospotrebnadzor said the sanitary and epidemiological situation in Irkutsk and Shelekhov remained stable. It also said no infectious illnesses had been reported among institute staff in the preceding 10 days.

The agency said a special commission investigating biological safety at the institute found no accidents involving pathogenic microorganisms. Among those monitored after the woman's illness, officials reported two cases of COVID-19 and two cases of rhinovirus, with no other infectious pathogens detected.

The official account differs significantly from reports describing a possible laboratory-acquired plague infection.

Nearly 200 People Under Observation

Despite the uncertainty, authorities took precautionary measures following Shipilova's death.

Nearly 200 people who may have had contact with her were reportedly placed under medical observation, including more than 100 in hospital wards. More than 60 employees at the anti-plague institute were also reportedly isolated.

Irkutsk officials said identified contacts were being monitored and that, at the time of their latest update, they showed no signs of illness and laboratory test results were negative.

For now, the central question remains unresolved: whether Shipilova's illness was linked to the reported laboratory accident, the disputed Buryatia trip, or another cause that has not yet been established.