What happened
Russia has been accused of covering up the death of a laboratory technician from a suspected plague leak, The Telegraph reports. Darya Shipilova, 28, who worked at an anti-plague research institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region, died overnight between Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. Russia's infectious disease agency, Rospotrebnadzor, said she was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown origin, and the Irkutsk governor said an expert commission found pneumonia of "undetermined etiology." Local reports said she broke a test tube containing the bacterium that causes pneumonic plague.
In this Newstro Breaking News report: what has been reported about the incident, how Russian authorities responded, the conflicting official accounts, what experts said, and comments from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Every statement is attributed to the cited reporting. Visuals marked “file photo” or “illustrative” do not depict the events described unless stated.