Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Siberian Research Institute, lost her life after contracting pneumonic plague. Although it has not yet been confirmed whether this statistic is accurate, experts emphasize that this type of plague has the lowest transmission rate among various diseases.
Pneumonic Plague and Its Transmission
Infectious disease specialists explain that individuals infected with pneumonic plague quickly develop the acute form. This means there is less time for them to be in public spaces and infect others. The transmissibility of this disease is significantly lower than that of diseases like COVID-19, and transmission usually occurs under specific conditions, such as caring for an infected individual.
Read more: Nobel Prize Winners in Medicine 2023; Optogenetic Discoveries and Hope for Treating Brain Diseases
Experts at the website “Your Local Epidemiologist” emphasize that contact tracing and identifying at-risk individuals can prevent an outbreak before it begins. In a similar case in July 2025, a man in Arizona, USA, died from pneumonic plague, but by timely identifying and treating 46 people who were exposed to the disease, none of them became ill.
Vaccine and Treatment for Plague
While there are vaccines for plague, these vaccines are not very effective against pneumonic plague. The use of antibiotics, especially if administered within 24 hours of infection, is very effective. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the use of the plague vaccine should only be done in specific cases, such as working in institutions that deal with this disease.
Russian health officials have also announced that Daria Shipilova was vaccinated against the plague. The Russian regulatory agency, “Rospotrebnadzor,” announced on Friday that after conducting nearly 5,000 tests and finding no dangerous pathogens, precautionary measures and medical monitoring of all individuals who were in contact with this employee have ended, and the plague alert status in Siberia has been lifted.
The new statement from the Russian health regulatory agency also emphasized that no incidents related to pathogenic microorganisms have been observed at the “Irkutsk Plague Control Institute” and all safety protocols have been followed. This news has reassured the public about the occurrence of a pneumonic plague outbreak in Siberia.
Read more: Hidden Dangers of Ultra-Processed Foods and Deceptive Labels · Implementation of Pilot Projects to Increase Blood Donations from Women in 6 Provinces
