Suspected Russian plague case draws White House scrutiny as 200 face quarantine

Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab technician at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute, died on October 2 after reportedly breaking a test tube containing live Yersinia pestis on September 25. About 200 people are under medical observation and several Irkutsk hospitals are under a three-week quarantine. The White House and US State Department are tracking the suspected pneumonic plague case.

• Shipilova broke a live plague test tube on Sept 25, died Oct 2
• About 200 contacts under observation, tests so far negative
• Irkutsk hospitals closed for a three-week quarantine
• Rospotrebnadzor cites 'pneumonia of unknown aetiology'