White House on high alert and ‘assessing options’ as plague breaks out in Russia with hundreds put into quarantine | 4 Oct 2026 | The White House is monitoring a plague outbreak in Russia after a lab technician died and hundreds of people she came into contact with were placed in quarantine. An official with the Trump administration told Axios on Sunday that the administration is “aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options.” Darya Shipilova, 28, was reportedly working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia when she was exposed to pneumonic plague. Shipilova told medical staff she had accidentally broken a test tube holding live bacteria, according to news outlet Lyudi Baikala. Three hospitals in the region have been placed under secure measures, as a mask mandate has been put in place.