Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory assistant at Russia’s Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia, died after contracting pneumonic plague, with hundreds of contacts subsequently placed under quarantine. Her mother, Svetlana Shipilova, a medical professional, has rejected reports that her daughter became infected after accidentally breaking a test tube containing the deadly pathogen.
“I know the truth,” her mother declared, insisting that the laboratory’s protective test tubes could not have broken or spilled their contents in the manner described. “They simply let my daughter die,” she said, accusing Russian authorities of failing to protect her daughter.
Moscow has officially acknowledged only a death from “pneumonia of unknown origin,” while former CDC Director Robert Redfield raised the possibility that the plague bacterium might have been genetically modified to resist antibiotics, potentially explaining why treatment failed.
The United States and World Health Organization have pressed Russia for greater transparency.
