Plague may have resurfaced in Russia. But this isn’t the Black Death.
On October 1, 2026, the inpatient unit at the district hospital in Shelekhov, in Russia’s Irkutsk region, closed because of a suspected “especially dangerous infection.” Media outlets later reported that 28-year-old Darya Shipilova had died there of pneumonic plague. According to one account, she was a laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and accidentally broke a test tube…
On October 1, 2026, a hospital in Russia's Irkutsk region closed its inpatient unit due to a suspected "especially dangerous infection." The victim, 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, died of pneumonic plague, though her death was later reported to be from "pneumonia of unknown cause." While plague was once a rampant epidemic, it has significantly diminished in recent times.
Antibiotics play a crucial role in the disease's decline, as well as a reduction in human contact with rats and their fleas. Nowadays, people typically contract plague from wild animals, especially through flea bites. Russia identifies 11 natural plague areas, but only three showed the bacterium in 2025. Public health agencies vaccinate tens of thousands of people residing in these regions annually.
Despite the potential severity of plague, it is not an immediate threat of a new pandemic due to its low transmissibility among humans.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
