Dozens quarantined in Siberia after plague institute lab worker dies –Circumstances of lab worker’s death remain unclear | 5 Oct 2026 | A laboratory worker at a plague research institute in ​Siberia has fallen ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of ‌people, and the head of Russia’s health watchdog to fly to the Irkutsk region. The death has sparked public health fears on social media, but the authorities said on Monday the situation was under control… It is rare for Russians ⁠to fall ill with plague, however, though cases in other parts of the world – notably Africa – occur ​every year. There were conflicting reports about how and where the laboratory worker, whose age was given as 28, had fallen ill, but the authorities said she had died of pneumonia of as-yet unestablished origin.