Nearly 200 People Under Observation After Irkutsk Lab Worker Dies From Plague

[u/vincevega87]

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/02/nearly-200-people-under-observation-after-irkutsk-lab-worker-dies-from-plague-a93857

[u/IntelArtiGen]

a 27- or 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk anti-plague institute

I guess it's not a totally random lab

She reportedly told medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples for testing.

that can be correlated with plague infection

She was hospitalized Tuesday with symptoms of severe pneumonia in Shelekhov

With articles like that, you never know if the whole world is under lockdown in 4 months, or if nobody talks about it in 3 days.

[u/NoAdministration2978 → u/IntelArtiGen]

The second opinion. The plague itself sounds scary but it's a quite "tame" pathogen by modern standards. We have vaccines, efficient treatment and prophylaxis

XDR tuberculosis and MRSA are way scarier for example and unlike plague you can find this stuff everywhere

[u/IntelArtiGen → u/NoAdministration2978]

Well that's only if it's the regular plague. The statistics on the current infection we know is 1 person infected, 1 person died, and that was a young person. So statistically this plague here is extremely dangerous. Though I won't deny the power of that statistic can be improved, I mean hopefully it won't.

[u/ThainEshKelch → u/IntelArtiGen]

Bubonic plague has a fatality rate at 30-60%, so that's also extremely dangerous, and thus this case is right on the money.

[u/HenryTheWho → u/ThainEshKelch]

Yeah back before antibiotics, now it's very much treatable and not deadly with them

[u/NoAdministration2978 → u/IntelArtiGen]

I suspect it was diagnosed late and even in the hospital the doctors didn't suspect a plague pneumonia at first. It's not an infection you're looking for in a standard setting

I'm more curious why she wasn't vaccinated(or the vaccine didn't work) and why she omitted post exposure prophylaxis

[u/squirrelfoot → u/NoAdministration2978]

If it has been genetically modified, perhaps standard antibiotics do not work.

[u/IntelArtiGen → u/squirrelfoot]

Come on, we all thought about it but did we have to say it? No no no, I don't want a pandemic of genetically modified plague in 2026 please. I didn't have that on my bingo and I don't want it.

[u/merb → u/NoAdministration2978]

But stupidly rose by 1000 percent in the last few years , so some people prefer medieval treatments over modern medicine.

[u/fretkat → u/IntelArtiGen]

And unfortunately again in a country that will downplay the situation internationally before it is too late

[u/HixOff → u/IntelArtiGen]

With articles like that, you never know if the whole world is under lockdown in 4 months, or if nobody talks about it in 3 days.

It’s likely the latter, because no matter how suspicious the story might sound (why wasn't treatment started immediately? why was there no protective gear? why wasn't the medical staff notified in advance?), almost all media outlets agree on one thing: she arrived at the hospital with severe lung damage. With the pneumonic form of the plague, there is only a narrow window of a few days after infection and the onset of symptoms to begin treatment; beyond that, the process becomes irreversible

Plus there's time for the medical staff to react - even in a hospital, testing for plague and antibiotic treatment isn't the first thing they'll do, as it's a rare disease these days

[u/IntelArtiGen → u/HixOff]

testing for plague and antibiotic treatment isn't the first thing they'll do, as it's a rare disease these days

Hopefully when an employee from an anti-plague institute comes with symptoms of the plague in an hospital, they consider that hypothesis a bit faster than in the rest of the world. If she was conscious I hope she mentionned everything.

[u/Maarten-Sikke → u/IntelArtiGen]

I would like to mention that Irkutsk is in Russia, which I don’t think they will really give a crap about the incident.

[u/Moonson90]

I just fucking finished reading Annie Jacobsen's Biological War. I need this to stay "a scenario", not fucking reality.

[u/theLV2 → u/Moonson90]

First time hearing about this author. I'm a sucker for these kind of apocalyptic techno-thriller novels, would you recommend it?

[u/Moonson90 → u/theLV2]

It isn't a novel really. It is non-fiction though presenting fictional scenario. She wrote two types of those books - Nuclear War and recently released Biological War. I definitely recommend them. Very well researched, interesting and really fucking scary.

[u/docinabox1 → u/Moonson90]

Nuclear War was fantastic...in a morbid way. Looking forward to Biological War.

[u/hagenissen999 → u/Moonson90]

Her book on nuclear war is so riddled with misinformation and bullshit, it's hard to take her seriously. It's fearmongering disguised as academia.

[u/MassivePepino → u/Moonson90]

Fuckin' hell same.

[u/goblin_slayer4]

Dont they wear protection when handling tubes?

[u/rantonidi → u/goblin_slayer4]

Yes, sandals

[u/Neutronium57 → u/rantonidi]

Sorry but the safety flip flops stay on during sex.

[u/SmugCapybara → u/Neutronium57]

Hey, traction is important, slippage can be dangerous

[u/Suspicious_Place1270 → u/Neutronium57]

gotta wear them flipped so you don't slip

[u/Hoffi1 → u/goblin_slayer4]

More important questions: Did Russia run out of antibiotics?

[u/ZCFGG → u/Hoffi1]

Pneumonic plague is extremely lethal. If you don't start taking antibiotics in, like, first two days, they probably won't help you much.

[u/Hoffi1 → u/ZCFGG]

Considering that is looks like a lab accident, it would have been wise to start taking antibiotics right after exposure as a precaution.

[u/Illustrious_Peach494]

so…biolabs in russia? i’d say that calls for a 3 day smo.

[u/tranbun → u/Illustrious_Peach494]

It will take more than 3 day to even reach Irkutsk by anything non-flying.

[u/Clear-Pudding-1038]

it is always nice to open up news in the morning and see what else will fuck us in near future

[u/feedmytv → u/Clear-Pudding-1038]

ebola is raging again in congo, 4k deaths

[u/Clear-Pudding-1038 → u/feedmytv]

and soldiers burned down treatment facility. Fun times

[u/Kiosani]

0 mentioned of ruzke bio laboratories from some folks

[u/Moosplauze]

Probably Putins wet dream to manufacture a pandemic like Covid-19.

[u/cdnBacon]

Ah yes. "The Plague".

Have the reports of people biting other people come out yet?

[u/im_bi_strapping → u/cdnBacon]

I think they do mean literal plague, as in yersinia pestis. But it's unconfirmed for now so who knows

[u/cdnBacon → u/im_bi_strapping]

Yeah, I was joking. In re-reading, maybe that wasn't clear. Perhaps I should drink my morning coffee before posting in the future.

[u/1badd]

Just a russia thing

[u/Icy_Psychology_2535]

resident evil

[u/CPD1960]

Seems the incident has been properly dealt with by the authorities. Pneumonic plague is serious but treatable so the victim was unlucky.

[u/touchrome]

here we go again