Vic Verbalaitis
Sun, October 4, 2026
Ramil Sitdikov / REUTERS
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has been accused of concealing an alarming pneumonic plague outbreak as nearly 200 people have been forced into quarantine.
Authorities reported on Friday that 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, a lab tech at a research facility in Siberia, had died at the Shelekhov Hospital in a suspected case of the plague, according to The Moscow Times.
She had been hospitalized with acute pneumonia symptoms on Tuesday and was placed on a ventilator, with reports saying she died two days later on Thursday.
The incident prompted Shelekhov Hospital to quarantine, soon followed by several others in the Irkutsk region, even as health authorities reassured residents everything was fine, the outlet reported. The Irkutsk Aluminum Smelter in Shelekhov also instituted a mask mandate for "preventative measures," according to its director, Artem Fominykh.
Putin visited an aviation facility in the Irkutsk region in July. / VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV / POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Residents told local outlet People of Baikal that doctors in the region were "openly talking about the plague." A local maternity hospital blocked family from visiting birthing mothers, citing the "plague," the outlet reported.
"If [federal health officials] said everything is fine, then why are the hospitals closing for quarantine?" one resident was quoted asking.
"Unfortunately, they don't consider us human beings," another told the outlet.
Public health officials, meanwhile, have insisted the epidemiological situation in the region is "stable" and walked back their earlier statements. The federal health watchdog said Sunday that Shipilova died from a case of "pneumonia of an undetermined origin." Kremlin-controlled media deleted their earlier reporting on pneumonic plague.
On Saturday morning, the local government for the town of Baykalsk advised residents to avoid traveling to Shelekhov and other nearby towns because of a plague-related death, but the post was taken down shortly after, according to the Times.
Lake Baikal is in the Irkutsk region in southern Siberia. / Xinhua News Agency / Xinhua News Agency via Getty Ima
Igor Kobzev, the governor of the Irkutsk region, did not identify the illness as the plague and referred to it only as "a dangerous infectious disease," but shut down all public events in the region, according to the New York Post.
After meeting with Anna Popova, who leads Russia's public-health watchdog, to organize safety measures, Kobzev urged residents to remain calm.
"All identified contact persons have been placed under medical observation. As of today, the contacts show no signs of illness, and their laboratory test results are negative," he wrote on Telegram on Friday, without mentioning Shipilova's death.
People of Baikal reported that Shipilova had been exposed to the disease after she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria on Sept. 25. She first developed symptoms during a work expedition near the Russian border with Mongolia, according to the outlet.
Troops under Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps have liberated five key settlements, in a headache for Putin. / Alexander Kazakov / via REUTERS
However, Russian epidemiologist Mikhail Favorov, who now lives in the U.S., alleged that the broken test tube story is a government cover-up.
"It's laughable," Favorov said, according to the Post. "Someone working at the anti-plague Institute in Irkutsk wears a protective anti-plague suit. If you break a test tube, the likelihood of infection is actually very low. In short, it doesn't matter to the general public — they'll believe the 'dropped test tube story.'"
The 14th Century's Black Death pandemic wiped out 25 million people in Europe. / Pictures from History / Pictures From History/Universal
The plague has three main forms: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. Symptoms include fever, chills, and eventual respiratory failure, but it can be treated with antibiotics if started within 24 hours of symptom onset.
Pneumonic plague is the deadliest form and the only one that can spread from person to person via airborne respiratory droplets.
Jimmy Kimmel Mocks Trump’s Promise to Help Russia Amid Siberia Plague: ‘The Gang Who Brought Polio Back’
"Sounds like the plot of one of those horror movies you can only get on Tubi," the late night host adds
Alyssa Ray
Mon, October 5, 2026
(Photo credit: "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"/YouTube)
Jimmy Kimmel took aim at Donald Trump after the president promised to send aid to Russia amid a plague outbreak in Siberia, joking that "the gang who brought polio back is on the case."
During Monday's monologue for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," the comedian weighed in on the situation in Siberia, which saw a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute die of severe pneumonia. Dozens more are currently in quarantine.
"We took 200 members of our staff to Brooklyn. I am pleased to announce that only half of them came back with the flu," Kimmel said. "Everyone is out sick. Everybody is sick today. Although, I guess we're lucky to just have the flu."
He added: "You know, today the governor of New York declared a state disaster emergency because of a measles outbreak there. So now we've got the flu, we've got measles, we've got rabies, we've got West Nile virus, we have flea-born typhus, all on the rise. And now we are hearing that in Russia there has been at least one death from a suspected case of the plague, the pneumonic plague."
After mentioning that around 200 people are in quarantine, Kimmel said of the White House's response: "The White House says they are monitoring the situation and assessing options to figure out if there is any way they can make money off of it."
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" editors then played footage of Trump answering questions about the supposed plague, with the president noting that "we'll help them."
"Well, everybody, they'll help [them]," Kimmel responded. "No worries. The gang who brought polio back is on the case."
"So, this outbreak, which is scary, is reported to have originated with a lab leak at the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia," he added. "Which sounds like the plot of one of those horror movies you can only get on Tubi."
Before moving on, Kimmel sarcastically noted that he felt "glad we have a president who is a doctor and also Jesus," poking fun at Trump's past AI-generated religious memes.
For Kimmel's full monologue, watch the video above. A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
TheWrap.
Mon, October 5, 2026
(Photo credit: "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"/YouTube)
Jimmy Kimmel took aim at Donald Trump after the president promised to send aid to Russia amid a plague outbreak in Siberia, joking that "the gang who brought polio back is on the case."
During Monday's monologue for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," the comedian weighed in on the situation in Siberia, which saw a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute die of severe pneumonia. Dozens more are currently in quarantine.
"We took 200 members of our staff to Brooklyn. I am pleased to announce that only half of them came back with the flu," Kimmel said. "Everyone is out sick. Everybody is sick today. Although, I guess we're lucky to just have the flu."
He added: "You know, today the governor of New York declared a state disaster emergency because of a measles outbreak there. So now we've got the flu, we've got measles, we've got rabies, we've got West Nile virus, we have flea-born typhus, all on the rise. And now we are hearing that in Russia there has been at least one death from a suspected case of the plague, the pneumonic plague."
After mentioning that around 200 people are in quarantine, Kimmel said of the White House's response: "The White House says they are monitoring the situation and assessing options to figure out if there is any way they can make money off of it."
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" editors then played footage of Trump answering questions about the supposed plague, with the president noting that "we'll help them."
"Well, everybody, they'll help [them]," Kimmel responded. "No worries. The gang who brought polio back is on the case."
"So, this outbreak, which is scary, is reported to have originated with a lab leak at the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia," he added. "Which sounds like the plot of one of those horror movies you can only get on Tubi."
Before moving on, Kimmel sarcastically noted that he felt "glad we have a president who is a doctor and also Jesus," poking fun at Trump's past AI-generated religious memes.
For Kimmel's full monologue, watch the video above. A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
TheWrap.
Reuters
Mon, October 5, 2026
US President Donald Trump speaks with media before boarding Marine One as he travels to Grand Island, Nebraska, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., US, October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump on Monday at the White House told reporters that the United States will help Russia after a laboratory worker died at a plague research institute in Siberia.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Nebraska that the outbreak is a "big problem for Russia."
A laboratory worker at a plague research institute in Siberia fell ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of people.
The death has sparked public health fears on social media, but Russian authorities said on Monday the situation was under control.
"Well, I hate to see them having it," Trump said. "It's a rough disease."
He said the US would do what it could to help Russia. Trump has said he considers Russian President Vladimir Putin someone whom he can work with despite tensions over Russia's war against Ukraine.
"We'll help," Trump said. "Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we're always will to help."
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt and Bo Erickson; editing by Michelle Nichols and Caitlin Webber)
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