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A staff member at a plague research institute in Siberia, Russia, has died from pneumonia of unknown origin after allegedly breaking a test tube.
Darya Shipilova, 28, died on Friday, October 2, in the intensive care unit of a district hospital in Shelekhov.
Local media reported that Shipilova broke a test tube containing a plague pathogen at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute.
More than 200 people have been placed under medical observation amidst regional concerns over a potential pneumonic plague outbreak.
Shelekhovsky district mayor Maxim Modin confirmed that authorities are implementing a comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures.
The inpatient facility at the hospital where Shipilova was treated has been quarantined, with several departments halting patient admissions and discharges.
Local media reports indicate that other hospitals across the region have also been closed.
Pneumonic plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and spreads easily between humans via respiratory particles.
The remaining two types of plague typically spread through contact with infected fleas, animals, or tissue.
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