Shelekhov

The public record begins with a death from pneumonia, not with a verified escape of pneumonic plague.

A woman employed at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East fell ill and died at a hospital in Shelekhov.

Media reports identified her as twenty-eight-year-old Daria Shipilova.

That identification comes from reporting.

And officials have offered conflicting accounts of exactly what it was that killed this young woman.

Meanwhile, workers at the massive Irkutsk aluminum plant in Shelekhov have been ordered to wear masks as a protection.

There have also been photographs which have been released showing people in containment suits walking around outside in the frigid Siberian air.

At least one hundred and ninety-seven people who are believed to have perhaps crossed paths with Shipalova were identified.

If it's untreated, it is frequently fatal, and the clock for antibiotics is measured in hours, not days.

A September twenty-fifth broken vial and a September twenty-ninth collapse are directly in that window of what may have actually, uh, given her, her ultimate send-off.

Uh, Shelekhov is not a village.

It is an industrial town built around the Irkutsk aluminum plant, and it employs roughly two thousand workers.

For example, the head of the Buratia region, um, which neighbors the Irkutsk region, um, said at the weekend that a woman he didn't actually name, he didn't actually name her, but had, had died of the plague, and he later edited this to add the word possibly died of the plague.

And then there was a warning from local officials to avoid all travel to, um, Shelekhov, which is where the hospital, where the lab technician died.

They actually said because of unconfirmed reports of a plague.

But then this, this warning was, was also removed.

Local officials say about 60% have since been released.

In Shelekhov, residents say daily life has continued with little disruption.

Looks nice

Local authorities say-

And, uh, what I thought was interesting though, is that the female researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia in the Far East has died last week of pneumonia of unknown etiology, is how, is, is the term they utilized, or origin, according to the country's consumer welfare service.

It said the sanitary epidem- epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region and the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov was stable.

Russian authorities said they found no evidence the researcher's illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.

Almost 200 people who had been in contact with the researcher were now being observed.

And, uh, obviously, I think the mater- the mayor of Shelekhov or whatever this municipal district, uh, it's near the border of, with Mongolia apparently.

And, and he, he went on the record, Maxim Modin or something is his name, and he said the inpatient facility where the researcher was treated had been closed for quarantine.

And so then this is after, uh, I think directly after that is when you had Russian authorities confirm, um- That this 28-year-old researcher had died, but they did not confirm exactly what the cause of death was.

about this possible case of the plague in Russia and how worried should we be.

On October 2nd, a woman died in a hospital in the town of Shelehov in Russia's Irkutsk region in Siberia.

Emergency services told Russian state media at the time that the woman died from an infectious disease of undetermined origin.

She's been named locally as a 28-year-old employee at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk.