Developing situation · Updated Oct 5, 2026
ONLY 5 DAYS INTO OCTOBER AND RUSSIA IS PLAGUING THE NEWS
10-05-2026
It only seems like yesterday that Annie Jacobsen was touring the podcast circuit. What was the topic this time? A Gain-of-Function enhanced, weaponized version of the plague called Pneumonic Plague, developed in a Soviet bioweapons facility. Youtube
youtube
Coincidence?
Who knows.
This is what we do know.
On October 2nd, 2026, Daria Shipilova died after being hospitalized for “pneumonia of unknown etiology”. She was 28 years old. Politico.eu
Daria was a lab worker at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia. Initial reports indicate that she was exposed by a broken container; however, national and local authorities have since walked that back.
Initial reports of that test tube containing Pneumonic Plague remain unconfirmed but were reported by independent news sites. That facility does research on... plague
The official story from Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health watchdog, claims an absence of any evidence of a lab incident and insists Daria died of “pneumonia of unknown etiology”. Reuters.com
Meanwhile, the neighboring Buryatia leader, Alexei Tsydenov, said she “died, maybe of the plague”. Politico.EU
Since the initial incident, dozens of individuals—nearly 200 people—who were in close contact with Daria have been quarantined out of "precaution" usnews.com
Recent publicity for Annie Jacobsen's new book aside, how many 28-year-olds do you know of dying from acute pneumonia? Combine this with the fact that she worked in a bio-research facility for the plague and was hospitalized fairly quickly after the "unconfirmed incident".
What this means for you
If the report of a broken vial is true and she contracted the plague and died of pneumonia, it sounds like national authorities are trying desperately to avoid putting those two words together in that order: Pneumonic Plague.
Naturally occurring Pneumonic Plague is treatable with antibiotics. There is no telling how modified versions would react to conventional treatment. Unless we want to take her rapid decline and dying in a hospital as a potential indicator.
Coverage
- Plague may have resurfaced in Russia. But this isn’t the Black Death.
Meduza.io
more information on pneumonic plague