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

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/02/nearly-200-people-under-observation-after-irkutsk-lab-worker-dies-from-plague-a93857
43•ericmay•1h ago

Comments

abnry•36m ago
How often does this sort of thing happen? I'm guessing more than we think, either because we forget the news stories we read or because it isn't reported.
jmyeet•31m ago
Janet Parker was the last person to die of smallpox and, yes, she caught it in a lab [1].

[1]: https://whyy.org/segments/the-tragic-case-of-smallpoxs-final...

dnautics•20m ago
There was a COVID 19 lab leak in Taiwan about a year into the pandemic.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/4374289

Six errors contributed to this leak.

breadzeppelin__•18m ago
Bubonic plague is known to be active in Colorado, I think there are a handful of cases each year
helsinkiandrew•31m ago
So breaks a test tube of live bacteria at an “anti-plague institute”, possible infects 100 colleagues, then when she developed plague like symptoms is taken to hospital and possibly infects 100 patients.

I think they need to investigate their safety protocols

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

> At least 197 people who may have had contact with her were reportedly placed under medical isolation, including more than 100 in hospital wards.

hliyan•14m ago
Was this a glass test tube? I understand why glass is probably the best material for the inner lining of containers that hold biological material, but I'm surprised that there aren't better solutions for hazardous material (e.g. an unbreakable, transparent polymer outer coating).
robmusial•29m ago
I literally just finished Annie Jacobsen's book 'Biological War: A Scenario' last week where the central plot point is an accidental release of modified form of pneumonic plague from a lab in Siberia. Very coincidental timing, especially since it made me wonder how often labs like these have accidents and we never hear about them because it is cleaned up without issue.
DJBunnies•17m ago
How’d it turn out, are we boned?
Betelbuddy•15m ago
Netflix ends up the series after Season 1, just after your are emotionally invested...
robmusial•12m ago
No spoilers but Jacobsen's scenario books don't end with "and society came together, acted rationally, and solved the problem!"
petcat•9m ago
> made me wonder how often labs like these have accidents and we never hear about them because it is cleaned up without issue.

Did anyone ever confirm if the lab in Wuhan China was the originator of COVID? I remember that was a rumor but never heard if there was anything to it.

mvlipwig•5m ago
It's difficult to say for sure, but the consensus is leaning towards natural origin from a bat or pangolin in a wet market. (I'm not very well researched on this topic and don't have any formal background in it, so hedge accordingly)
hn_throwaway_99•28m ago
> The woman was identified as Daria Sh., a 27- or 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk anti-plague institute, by the exiled news outlet Lyudi Baikala (People of Baikal) and pro-Kremlin broadcaster REN TV.

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

This is just weird. Plague is easily treated if antibiotics are given right away. I'm shocked that an anti-plague institute wouldn't have detailed and proactive plans in case of mishaps. Obviously I think it's likely that there is more to it than what's reported in the article, but I would find it truly baffling if within 60 seconds of her breaking that test tube that protocols weren't initiated to protect her, her colleagues and the community.

Of course, Russia...

hansvm•3m ago
Last I saw, plausible, unconfirmed, nobody is willing/able to provide enough information to be able to confirm one way or another.
lumost•3m ago
I recently heard a scientist use a phrase something along the lines of “when two extraordinarily improbably events occur together, there is probably a connection”.

We’ll never know if the lab in Wuhan originated the virus. But it is awfully strange that the first patients of a novel pandemic coronavirus were workers at a lab conducting gain of function research on coronavirus.

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