Vladimir Putin is facing a fresh crisis at home while he ramps up his war against Ukraine: a freak lab accident involving pneumonic plague and a frantic campaign to cover it up.
The dizzying turn of events began in the Irkutsk region of Siberia on Friday, when news broke of a 28-year-old woman dying of suspected pneumonic plague at a hospital in the town of Shelekhov. Several local reports say she worked as a lab technician at a research institute and accidentally broke a vial containing the plague pathogen; other reports say she had just returned from a work trip and may have contracted it elsewhere.
Pneumonic plague is the most virulent form of plague, spreading from person to person through respiratory droplets in the air. Authorities initially began loudly sounding the alarm over the “especially dangerous infection,” but then just as quickly began removing all traces of the possible outbreak.
The hospital in Shelekhov was immediately quarantined, along with 200 people who had been in contact with the woman, according to local outlet People of Baikal. Regional authorities summoned an emergency meeting involving Putin’s powerful Federal Security Service, and FSB units were subsequently spotted accompanying ambulances with those under quarantine.
By Saturday, however, Kremlin-controlled media and local authorities began quickly wiping all traces of the news. The city of Baykalsk posted an alert urging residents to avoid traveling to Shelekhov, only to delete the post two hours later. REN-TV wiped five posts about the crisis from its Telegram channel.
But local authorities were still clearly trying to prevent an epidemic, postponing public events in Irkutsk because of the “unfavorable epidemiological situation.”
Residents have reportedly begun buying up all the antibiotics in local pharmacies to prepare for a potential outbreak. Pneumonic plague is the most serious form and the most likely to lead to an epidemic. Certain antibiotics have been found to be effective, but only if administered within the first 24 hours after symptoms appear.
