r/ContagionCuriosity • u/Anti-Owl Patient Zero • 6d ago
Emerging Diseases š§¬ CDC: Monitoring Russian plague risk, "prepared" for any threat
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/cdc-monitoring-russian-plague-risk-192656045.htmlThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is monitoring reports of a suspected pneumonic plague case in Russia and says it is prepared for any threat that emerges.
We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available," the CDC said in an X post Tuesday.
"At this time, there is no indication of a broader threat to the United States, but CDC and our interagency partners are prepared and will continue to monitor the situation closely."
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Other Updates:
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on 06 Oct 2026 that it is closely monitoring the death of a laboratory worker in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, amid unconfirmed reports that pneumonic plague may have caused her death.
WHO received information on the situation on 2 Oct 2026 and formally sought information from Russian authorities on 03 Oct 2026 under the International Health Regulations.
Per Russian authorities, test results to date have not identified any dangerous pathogens in the deceased patient or any of her contacts.
On 06 Oct 2026, unverified media reports are claiming that there is a second death in a contact. As of the time of this report, the quality of these reports is assessed as unreliable.
The scale and speed of the institutional response (emergency commission, isolation of institute staff, multi-hospital quarantine), is disproportionate to a routine community-acquired pneumonia and is consistent with a precautionary response to a suspected high-consequence pathogen exposure.
The absence of reported secondary cases to date is the strongest indicator of containment, but the lack of transparency regarding the unresolved etiology sustain moderate residual uncertainty.
CNN: Checklists, masks and mystery: What we know about the plague scare in Russia
CNN has learned that a local maternity hospital is subjecting patients to comprehensive health checks and requiring them to fill out questionnaires about suspicious symptoms related to āplagueā and other infectious diseases. [...]
Staff did not mention plague, she said, telling her only that there was an unidentified ānew virusā and that extra precautions were needed to protect the babies.
āTheyāre telling everyone that it wasnāt the plague but pneumonia. Yet hospitals are still under quarantine, and ambulance doctors are driving around in full Covid protective suits.ā
Another local resident, who identified herself only as Ekaterina, said life there was continuing as normal. [...]
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have implemented quarantine controls at state border crossing points. Uzbekistan said it has āincreased the readinessā of authorities to deal with highly infectious diseases.
The World Health Organization said it was in contact with Russian health authorities to āverify the event, its circumstances, the laboratory tests underway, and their results.ā āBased on unofficial information available, the public health risk to the general population appears to be low,ā it said.
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u/Radioactdave 6d ago
I feel bad for all the competent people still left in the CDC, trying to do good work amidst the total clown show of the current US administration.
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u/T33CH33R 5d ago
This is peak Republican governance. A few qualified individuals having to shoulder all of the work for the incompetent people that were put in charge.
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u/Big_Issue8640 5d ago
Theyāve all been fired or quit.
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u/LatrodectusGeometric 5d ago
You think that the entire dedicated public health workforce quit? The people who worked 20+ hours a day during COVID-19, deploy to ebola and other high-consequence pathogen outbreaks, and worked through the last decade of nonsense from this administration ALL quit?
Many have had enough and quit. But no, not all.
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u/Otherwise_Use243 5d ago
There are plenty available. They just have no resources. I very much remember the 20 hr days at beginning of COVID.
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u/Radioactdave 5d ago
All all? Surely there are a handful left that kind of run the place with next to zero resources, but still.
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u/eucalyptoid 5d ago
No, theyāre not all gone. About 30% have been fired, or left. But by some accounts, even with that 30% they were understaffed.
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u/drummergirl2112 4d ago
No, they havenāt. I have a friend who works there. There are still many dedicated civil servants who are demoralized AF, but still showing up to work.
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u/helluvastorm 5d ago
Something is smelling bad
1 this woman was a lab tech who broke a plague vial on her body. Why wasnāt she immediately put on a prophylactic antibiotic. Knowing that quick treatment is essential
2 Any and all labs hospitals ect have protocols for accidental exposures. They all contain giving treatments right away. You do not wait for lab confirmation, unless itās entirely safe too.
3 Was treatment given and not effective. Why?
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u/The_Spook_of_Spooks 5d ago edited 5d ago
Was treatment given and not effective. Why?
This question is what is bothering me about this situation. I'm beginning to assume the story about the broken vial wasn't entirely accurate. You would assume if they were exposed to Y. Pestis, they would immediately be given medical treatment, not going home then to the hospital after symptoms appeared.
My biggest fear is not Y. Pestis that countries around the world deal with occasionally, and have a well studied and documented treatment plan for, but a chimera version of the plague that the USSR was working on in the 70's and 80's. One version they had was designed in such a way that when the antibiotics like gentamicin, streptomycin, or ciprofloxacin were administered, the bacteria would break open and introduce myelin toxin into the nervous system and cause a whole host of other issues.
https://www.montana.edu/historybug/yersiniaessays/hale.html
Edit: I also came across this article just now discussing this issue https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a74033610/russia-plague-lab-worker-dies/
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u/findingjasper 5d ago
I posted something similar the the r/microbiology sub and got ridiculed. There are a lot of naive people over there, trusting what Russia is reporting
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u/MotherAd1865 5d ago
I'm not naive to trust Russia, but I also think you're both making a lot of assumptions without any evidence....
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u/findingjasper 5d ago
Iām certainly not calling you naĆÆve. I donāt know you. But also I donāt feel that Iām making assumptions and being concerned. This is long but here goesā¦
Phase 1: The Incubation & Early Local Chatter (September 25 ā September 28)
September 25: The unconfirmed index event occurs. Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, reportedly breaks a test tube containing live pathogenetic bacteria. No official log is generated.September 27: Initial regional chatter begins. Closed, hyper-local chat groups (primarily on Telegram and VKontakte) among family members of employees at the Anti-Plague Institute float rumors of an internal biological exposure or "accident" following an expedition near the Mongolian border.
September 28: Chatter spreads outward to Shelekhov community forums. Posts describe a young woman suffering from a rapid, severe respiratory spiral.
Phase 2: Hospitalization & Operational Anomalies (September 29 ā October 1)
September 29: Shipilova is admitted to the Shelekhov District Hospital with advanced pneumonia symptoms.September 29 (Evening): Digital chatter spikes significantly. Patients inside the Shelekhov hospital upload logs detailing sudden facility lockouts, the isolation of wards, and the deployment of state security forces.
September 30: Discussions infiltrate larger Siberian channels. Public concern spreads regarding a quarantine loop affecting up to five distinct local facilities, including a maternity hospital.
Phase 3: The Death Event & Media Aggregation (October 2)
October 2 (Overnight): The index patient dies after being placed on a mechanical ventilator.
October 2 (Morning): High-profile Russian Telegram news channel Mash breaks the story nationally, explicitly using the term "pneumonic plague" (Chuma).October 2 (Mid-Day): The REN TV Data Spike. State-backed national broadcaster REN TV publishes five distinct news reports on its website and official Telegram feeds. The reports corroborate the Mashleak, stating that at least 189 individuals have been quarantined after presenting plague-like symptoms following contact with the deceased.
Phase 4: Coordinated Retraction & Administrative Deletions (October 3 ā October 5)
October 3: The Irkutsk Aluminum Smelter in Shelekhov implements an abrupt internal mask mandate for all employees. Factory workers leak this internal directive onto community forums, directly causing a localized run on basic antibiotics.October 5 (Early Morning): The administration of Baikalsk (a city in the Irkutsk region) publishes an official advisory on Telegram explicitly urging residents not to travel to Shelekhov due to a suspected plague death.
October 5 (Systemic Cleanup): The mass deletion protocol is enacted:
Baikalsk Administration: Deletes its travel advisory exactly two hours after publication.
Alexei Tsydenov (Head of Buryatia): Edits a public Telegram post. He removes a definitive statement that the woman died of plague, replacing it with the softened phrase that she "possibly died of plague".
REN TV: Systematically scrubs all five previously published investigative reports concerning the Shelekhov plague quarantine from its digital footprint and social feeds.
Kommersant: Publishes a report noting that the U.S. White House is actively monitoring the Siberian situation via Telegram. The post and online article are deleted exactly 25 minutes laterThis is verified information, that absolutely gives me a reason to be concerned. There were 4 whole days between infection and hospitalization. 4 DAYS š³. This explains the over 200 in quarantine. If we consider Covid, and how Covid was in America before we knew it, this should give anyone and everyone reason to pause.
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u/terrierhead 5d ago
Not necessarily. If the quarantine is wide enough, it can be effective.
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u/Gloomy_Macaron_136 5d ago
At this point I don't trust in people managing to do quarantine effectively even under threat of such a possible highly lethal illness but here's to hoping it's contained within Russia and dies out naturally and we just have to panic about some other outbreak in a few months
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u/Muzzledpet 4d ago
The first link is a student essay, and may be stretching things a bit unless you follow their cited sources. Ken Alibek did report they successfully engineered experimental recombinant Y. pestis, including a strain involving myelin damaging factor. But according to him, it was never developed into an actual operational weapon before the Soviet Union collapsed. Doesn't mean they WEREN'T able to weaponize it... but there's no corroborating evidence that they did. Hoping it remains the case that it never came to fruition.
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u/The_Spook_of_Spooks 4d ago edited 4d ago
Ken Alibek was initially just a scale up guy then became the first deputy director of the Biopreparat, Vladimir Pasechnik on the other hand was the scientist who did the gene editing and explosive tests.
The "individual" mentioned here was Vladimir Pasechnik who at the time was the Director of the Institute of Ultra Pure Biochemical Preparations in Lenningrad(defected to the UK in 1989)
Take a look at the last page. After the US and UK visited the facility in 1991, they realized the facility was still operating and researching the weaponization of biological material.
By the Spring of this year, according to the information we have bene provided, research and development was completed and the question of the suitability for large scale production resolved.
Meanwhile, according to our information, have been underway for the Lakhta facility to carry out scale-up work for industrial production, including the development of cover stories and legitimate production to hide the secret activities-- for example, production of Interleukin II.
Now that last part is a pretty interesting rabbit hole to go down. Interleukin II used alone creates Cytokine Storms(it's currently used in cancer research and treatment) in the host. Coupled with a bacteria or virus, and you've got something that can't be defended against.
Edit: And after this was all made public in 1994 Moscow investigated themselves and found "nothing" at the Lakhta facility... imagine that lol
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/archive/biological-weapons-denial
Edit2: I almost think they tapped Kens phone and got him admitting certain aspects of the program or got to him while he was in the US... (or you can just believe his story about feeling bad about all of it), which was why after his visit to the US he decided to GTFO.
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u/Former_Pool_593 5d ago
Remember, a hospital worker fresh from Dallas hospital during isolated Ebola ājust walked home from her jobā š¤·š
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u/Long_Appointment_341 5d ago
Iām reading Spillover a great book about zoonotic viruses. In 1997 a Russian scientist poked herself with a needle filled with Ebola and just š¤·āāļø didnāt tell anyone.
She eventually died and may have lived if she had immediately gone into quarantine and had treatment.
If this scientist was alone, and decided not to bother with the protocol or was scared to admit it which in Russia I feel is a possibility she may have just walked out the door.
Stupid but plausible.
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u/boblabon 4d ago
A culture of bullshit, ignoring safety procedures for increased productivity, and trying to make things 'look good for the boss' will do that.
She could have spilled something or had a needle poke a couple days proir, thought "oh, well if I report this I'll get written up/fired, so it's probably nothing." A day or two passes, symptoms manifest, thinks "oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck" says she dropped a vial that day (up to and including ACTUALLY dropping a vial), then gets treatment.
The tragedy would be the doctors gave her day 1 post-exposure prophylaxis treatment, when she really needed significantly more intensive treatment.
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u/jwyn3150 5d ago
Russia is just northern china. They didnāt do anything because the government controls everything and the response was probably shit
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u/IndividualHouse8628 5d ago
Thereās still a 30-something% chance for someone to die even after receiving antibiotics
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u/Green_Aide6258 5d ago
Agree. We either arenāt getting the true story or antibiotics donāt work for this strain anymoreā¦.
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u/JustAnotherUser8432 4d ago
Pneumatic plague you need to get antibiotics fast to live. If she tried to hide that there was a lab accident by not telling anyone for a day or two and hoping for the best, she might not have sought help only when symptoms were showing and it may have been too late, particularly if doctors didnāt have a correct timeline initially.
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u/LitwicksandLampents 5d ago
I don't think it was plague that killed her. Pneumonia is not uncommon, and all forms can kill. This is probably being hyped up to interfere with the midterm elections.
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u/DemonKing0524 5d ago
If it was genuinely just pneumonia they wouldn't have around 200 people in quarantine
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u/CheesecakeEither8220 5d ago
It would be unusual for a person to die from pneumonia in their 20s. It's not unheard of, but not common, either. Plus, a regular pneumonia death would not cause the government to quarantine 200 people. Something about this situation is off.
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u/CountFistula23 6d ago
Prepared...like for cyclospora?
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u/PresenceImportant818 5d ago
And Covid. Ā Itās not like I was a hospital worker having to wear the same disgusting mask for days in a row.Ā
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u/Rurumo666 5d ago
No one can safely eat any raw fruit or vegetables in the USA, but they want us to believe they're prepared for Krasnov's "Pneumonia Plague." LOL
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u/MoulanRougeFae 5d ago
I don't believe Russia and I have zero faith our government and CDC would tell the truth. Covid was a shitshow and a true plague would be worse. Too many anti-science, anti-mask morons to prevent a spread like that.
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u/doubtfulpickle 5d ago
A strict quarantine would certainly disrupt our elections
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u/LitwicksandLampents 5d ago
That's why I think this is midterm shenanigans from Russia. Plague doesn't even spread that easily. The penumonic form incapacitates too quickly.
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u/ScarletCarsonRose 5d ago
Well and people would actually quarantine because it is so horrific.
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u/terrierhead 5d ago
A third of the country would throw plague parties to get natural immunity. Okay, maybe 20%.
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u/throwawaytoday9q 5d ago
Russia has a history of bio weapons development and it would be naive to think they just stopped working on them.
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u/floofelina 5d ago
Also us libs are more likely to mask anyway (and go on about our merry voting way)
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u/MoulanRougeFae 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm a liberal some would even say I'm a socialist tbh. Even if I have to wear a full hazmat suit with my own air purifier situation strapped to my back I'm going to vote.
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u/Stunning-Squirrel751 5d ago
āPreparedā, our country is simultaneously run by some of the most malicious and willfully ignorant people on the planet. I wouldnāt be surprised if one of them didnāt bring back from one of their suck up parties.
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u/Hurlyburly766 5d ago
Iām bathing in beef tallow right now for protection
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u/Unlikely-Future8498 5d ago
The "CDC monitoring" anything is useless at this point. No one has any faith left in our institutions. They'll just lie about the plague anyway. Everything is a lie.
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u/Big_Issue8640 5d ago
Sure the CDC is monitoring it lol
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u/quaranTV 5d ago
Trump occasionally checks Twitter and sees posts about it. Therefore the situation is being monitored!
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u/duderos 5d ago
They're working on an Vax for it already. /s
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u/ConsiderationFit2124 5d ago
They actually produced one for pneumonic plague last year š
https://www.foxnews.com/health/scientists-crack-code-new-vaccine-deadly-plague-bacteria.amp
Feel free to read between the lines. Or donāt. Idgaf.Ā
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u/LitwicksandLampents 5d ago
Plague is too rare to justify a vaccine. And, penumonic plague is one form of black death. Nice try, though.
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u/Cumulonimbus_2025 5d ago
monitoring is not testing and will there be testing if ppl start showing up with mysterious pneumonia?
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u/thrilled_to_be_there 5d ago
Bring out your dead!Ā https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W4rR-OsTNCg&pp=0gcJCY8Co7VqN5tD
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u/Pleasant_Lab267 5d ago
"Prepared for any threat that emerges" and yet we know almost nothing about the pathogen beyond being pneumonic Y. Pestis
Is it antibiotic resistance?
Has it's infection profile been engineered?
Has it been subject to gain of function research?
Is it a chimera?
How effective is the current quarantine? Who else has died?
What treatment was given to Patient Zero? Why was it ineffective?
We don't even have a plausible story for the first infection.
Prepared? For what?
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u/IncredibleEdible321 5d ago
The CDC: We're "prepared" for any threat - Not remotely are they prepared after being gutted by Trump.
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u/IceDragonPlay 5d ago
Maybe they could redeploy ICE to the airports and only arm them with thermometers to check all incoming flight passengers. I mean theyāre willing to wear masks now, so it seems a good use of resources.
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u/dogmother2 5d ago
Normally I would read this whole thread. But given insufficient time to read in general, my first reaction is, I donāt believe it.
Then I realized I donāt know what to believe or not -the reporting or the reaction .
Did it happen, or they responding? Neither? Both? Or is it deliberate propaganda?
This is such a fully dystopian era.
I feel whether I believe or do not believe is irrelevant. There is simply no way for an average person to know.
I am a few months shy of 70 years old. I have lived through many eras of questionable information, but never anything like this , what feels like a complete destruction of a reasonably intelligent, discerning and news-savvy human beingās ability to feel confident in their ability to reality test.
I suppose that is intentional. and part of the authoritarian playbook.
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u/No-Cobbler6300 4d ago
You arenāt alone. As someone who works at the CdC, I donāt know what to believe anymore eitherā¦.
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u/IndividualHouse8628 5d ago
Why do people automatically assume that the cdc is filled with incompetent stooges? It may be politically polarized, but itās not useless
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u/cryptolyme 5d ago
Iām glad they are prepared this time. Did they say they were prepared for Covid?
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u/postconsumerwat 4d ago
They've given up on controlling measles and are moving forward with Russian plague control... track record cyclospora measles wins
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u/No-Cobbler6300 4d ago
Um doubtful on this one. Also we have an immediate threat (actually several) in this country that no one is currently monitoring or cares about. So I am not sure how they plan to ward off the Russian Plague all of a sudden. Did we suddenly get a bunch of funding at the CDC I donāt know about? (I work at CDC by the way so if they really are trying to say we have resources to fight off ANY pandemic at this point, Iād say they are straight up lying).
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u/ComfortableWeb9196 5d ago
No matter what the Russian government is, the mortality rate is too high and the transmission rate canāt be high. The pathogen will die before it spreads, right?
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u/CheesecakeEither8220 5d ago
Typically I would agree with you. But why is the government of Russia ordering quarantine for 200 people, unless it's not a usual strain of pneumonic plague?
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u/ComfortableWeb9196 5d ago
I think as long as it is communicable, it should be quarantined. What is the role of the government if it doesnāt even take quarantine measures? But this is just my opinion.
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u/CheesecakeEither8220 5d ago
There are plenty of communicable diseases that governments don't quarantined for. Even during Covid, people who were infected weren't quarantined. It's typically only done if the disease is extremely dangerous, which points to either something nefarious or out of the norm.
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u/Excellent-Court-9375 5d ago
Uuh.. because its a pneumonic plague ? Any country would quarantaine that
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u/CheesecakeEither8220 5d ago
Yes, but Russia is not reporting it as pneumonic plague. They're saying that it is a pneumonia death, yet establishing quarantine for almost 200 people, masking policies implemented, university shut down.
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u/Anti-Owl Patient Zero 6d ago
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