Plague panic has intensified following the death of a lab worker in Siberia who worked at an institute dedicated to studying the illness.

Nearly 200 people in Russia’s Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia were placed under medical observation over suspected exposure to plague.

Nearly 200 In Russia Under Medical Observation After Plague Laboratory Worker’s Death

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a profound interest after reports of a second alleged pneumonia case.

"The World Health Organization is looking into reports of a second pneumonia case linked to an anti-plague institute in Irkutsk, Siberia, after the Kremlin said there are no plague cases in the region following the death of a lab worker," Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said.

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The World Health Organization says it has yet to determine the cause of death for the 28-year-old woman, who worked at an anti-plague research institute, and has asked Russia to provide more information. The U.N. health agency has cited initial, unconfirmed reports suggesting pneumonic plague.

Russian authorities say the lab worker died of what initially presented as a “typical” acute respiratory viral infection and that no recent cases of plague have been detected, according to the WHO. A local mayor said the hospital where the woman died was placed under quarantine.

The case has revived memories of the COVID-19 pandemic and allegations the coronavirus may have emerged at a Chinese lab. The WHO has not provided a definitive answer to how the pandemic began.

Pneumonic plague and bubonic plague are caused by the same bacteria. The former is spread by respiratory particles while the latter is spread through bites from fleas that have jumped from infected rodents. Bubonic plague causes pus-filled sores.

The bacteria, called Yersinia pestis, caused the Black Death in the 14th century. The single deadliest event in recorded human history spread throughout Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa, wiping out up to 30% to 50% of the population.

It was never eliminated, but it is treatable with antibiotics.

Symptoms of pneumonic plague include shortness of breath and coughing up blood, and they can occur in as little as 24 hours after exposure, according to the WHO. If untreated, the illness can be fatal.

Through an international health alert system, Russian health officials on Tuesday said a full range of preventive measures had been carried out — including tracing of the deceased woman’s contacts, medical monitoring and lab tests.

“Test results showed no presence of dangerous infectious disease pathogens in any of the contacts,” said the note from Russian authorities, which was relayed to The Associated Press by the WHO.

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"CDC is aware of and closely monitoring reports of a suspected case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region of Russia that resulted in a death. We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available. While the circumstances of this reported case remain unconfirmed, plague is a serious bacterial disease that is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when recognized and treated early," the CDC wrote.

"Pneumonic plague can spread person-to-person through respiratory droplets during close contact, which is why rapid identification and treatment of infected individuals, and monitoring of potentially exposed individuals, are important public health measures. At this time, there is no indication of a broader threat to the United States, but CDC and our interagency partners are prepared and will continue to monitor the situation closely," it added.

Suspiciously, an mRNA jab for plague has already been developed in recent years.

"Scientists from Tel Aviv University and the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona have developed the world’s first mRNA-based vaccine against a deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacterium," The Times of Israel reported in 2025.

The Times of Israel shared further:

The vaccine against pneumonic plague is delivered via lipid nanoparticles like COVID-19 vaccines, and showed a 100 percent protection rate in animal models.

The groundbreaking study, which made the cover of the prestigious journal Advanced Science, was led by Prof. Dan Peer, director of the laboratory of precision nanomedicine, and his team of researchers, including Dr. Edo Kon, Dr. Inbal Hazan-HaLevy, and PhD student Shani Benarroch, working with IIBR scientists.

The innovation could be used to tackle bioterror threats. It could also serve to prevent infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria that annually kill thousands in Israel, and millions around the world.

“Each year in Israel, some 5,000 people die in hospitals from bacterial infections,” said Peer, speaking by telephone to The Times of Israel.

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“Imagine we can create a vaccine against three or four different bacteria, and at the time of hospitalization, you get vaccinated against these common strains. That will decrease the number of people who die from infections.”

Viruses and bacteria are both pathogens but they behave differently.

Viruses cannot survive or reproduce on their own. They infect a living cell and hijack it, sending mRNA, or genetic instructions, which direct the cell to begin producing more viral proteins.

But bacteria can reproduce on their own and make their own proteins. This, the mRNA vaccine strategies used on viruses don’t work on bacteria.

Peer said that in 2023, TAU and IIBR researchers developed a vaccine for a form of plague transmitted through the skin, via flea bites. They chose Yersinia pestis, a lethal bacterium that caused the bubonic plague, known as “the Black Death,” which killed two-thirds of Europe’s population in the Middle Ages.

In the current study, the researchers chose the far more virulent pneumonic plague, a disease that spreads through the air and causes respiratory illness, making it particularly difficult to develop a vaccine.

The reports of plague from Russia will be intriguing in the coming days, at least from the perspective of what kind of propaganda they'll try to push on the masses.

 

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