Agency finds no evidence of lab accident after worker’s death

A laboratory worker at the Irkutsk AntiPlague Research Institute in Siberia died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of undetermined cause, and Russia’s public-health agency said it found no evidence that her illness was linked to her work or to a laboratory accident. Authorities reported identifying 197 possible contacts and said they were continuing medical observation and testing as of October 4. The agency, Rospotrebnadzor, said tests of Daria Shipilova’s samples found no microorganisms associated with her professional activities. It also said inspections at the institute found no accident involving pathogenic microorganisms. The agency described the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, including Irkutsk and Shelekhov, as stable. A regional news report said Shipilova had told medical staff she broke a test tube containing Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, on September 25. That account has not been independently confirmed. Rospotrebnadzor has not confirmed that Shipilova had plague, and its findings do not establish that a laboratory exposure occurred.