Residents of Shelekhov told CNN they have been left relying on media reports and online rumors after the death of a 28-year-old employee of an Irkutsk anti-plague institute. Russian authorities say she died of pneumonia of unknown origin and that there is no risk of a plague outbreak.
Daria Shipilova died in a hospital in Shelekhov. About 200 people were initially quarantined after her death, Reuters reported. Officials urged residents to rely on updates from Rospotrebnadzor. On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Russian health authorities said the main preventive measures had been completed and no dangerous pathogens had been detected.
Some people who spoke to CNN said they did not trust official statements and did not know what was happening. Yevgeniya, 36, said a pharmacist friend told her residents had begun stocking up on antibiotics after plague rumors spread. Another interviewee, 26-year-old Ekaterina, said she saw no reason for concern because people who had been in contact with the laboratory worker were isolated.
A pharmacy worker named Ekaterina told CNN that customers rushed to buy masks, antiseptics and tetracycline antibiotics on Saturday. She said the rush lasted one day. A 38-year-old resident named Alina described the panic circulating on social media as detached from reality.
The independent outlet Lyudi Baikala quoted an unnamed doctor who questioned whether the pathogen could be reliably identified just one day after an autopsy. He said laboratory confirmation could take up to 10 days. His comments are not a diagnosis in Shipilova’s case.
Residents also told the outlet that vehicles and people in protective suits had disinfected entrances to a building in Irkutsk where they believed the deceased had lived. CNN said it could not independently verify that account. The diagnosis reported by authorities remains pneumonia of unknown origin, and no plague infection has been confirmed.