The mystery surrounding a possible deadly laboratory accident in Siberia is deepening.
Russian media reports now claim a second person has died amid fears of a possible pneumonic plague outbreak in the Irkutsk region, just days after a 28-year-old researcher at one of Russia’s anti-plague laboratories died under highly suspicious circumstances.
Meanwhile, countries across Central Asia are ramping up health controls as the Kremlin continues to insist there is no confirmed plague outbreak.
News.com.au reported that Russian media claimed a second individual died at an Irkutsk-area hospital after allegedly contracting the same disease that killed laboratory technician Darya Shipilova.
That second death has not been independently confirmed, and Russian authorities have not acknowledged that another person died from plague.
Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, a facility that handles extremely dangerous pathogens, including Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Shipilova was hospitalized September 29 with severe pneumonia and died in the early hours of October 2.
Regional reports claimed Shipilova told medical personnel she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while working at the institute days earlier.
Russian authorities deny that account.
Russia’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, claims there was no laboratory accident involving dangerous microorganisms and says Shipilova died from “pneumonia of unknown etiology.”
But the government’s reassurances have done little to stop alarm.
Nearly 200 people who came into contact with Shipilova were initially placed under medical observation, while dozens of employees at the anti-plague facility were isolated and hospitals in the region imposed quarantine restrictions.
Reuters reported that Russian officials said testing found no plague pathogen among Shipilova’s contacts and that approximately 60 percent of those initially quarantined had subsequently been released.
Now comes the reported second death.
According to reports circulating Tuesday, an unidentified person allegedly died at an Irkutsk district hospital with a suspected plague infection.
Again, Russian officials have not confirmed the second death as a plague fatality, and no publicly available laboratory evidence has established that the person was infected with Yersinia pestis.
The lack of answers has only fueled suspicion.
The Insider reported that Russian media outlets have been deleting reports discussing a suspected plague outbreak as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed the public to rely on information from Russia’s government health agency rather than what he called “rumors and speculation.”
At the same time, governments outside Russia are not simply ignoring the situation.
CNN specifically reported that Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan implemented quarantine controls at state border crossing points, with Uzbekistan also increasing readiness for highly infectious diseases.
Even the United States is demanding answers.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly called for greater transparency from Moscow.
“Maybe there’s nothing there. Maybe it’s bigger than we thought. We don’t know,” Rubio said at a news conference in Iceland, AP News reported.
“We encourage Russia to be more transparent and share more information with the world,” Rubio said, adding this has so far been “quite limited, but hopefully that will change in the next few hours and days.”
President Trump has also addressed the situation, calling the Russian laboratory worker’s death a serious concern and offering American assistance.
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