See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
The mother of a lab worker at a Russian plague laboratory has accused officials of covering up her daughter’s death.
Darya Shipilova, 28, died on Oct. 2, days after she was exposed to what is believed to be pneumonic plague at the Irkutsk Anti‑Plague Research Institute.
Early reports suggested that during routine testing, she contracted the deadly infection from a broken test tube that contained live biological material.
But Svetlana Shipilova, has slammed the narrative surrounding her daughter’s death.
“I’ve saved more than one patient like [Darya], but they didn’t save my daughter,” the 64-year-old health-care worker told outlet Glubina , per the Telegraph , about the medical treatment Darya received before she passed away.
“They simply let my daughter die.”
The late researcher’s family remains in isolation, but her mother noted, “[She] hasn’t been buried yet. Who is going to bury her if we are sitting here imprisoned?”
Others who came into contact with Darya
An estimated 100 people came into direct or indirect contact with Shipilova before her death are being monitored in hospital, down from the initial 197 figure.
The World Health Organization demanded on Wednesday that Russia answer questions about a second death reportedly linked to the suspected outbreak, though the Kremlin has dismissed the claims and denied imposing anti-plague measures.
But four days after the deadly incident, Shipilova’s mother said that state medical authorities still have not provided her with a cause of death for her daughter.
“I’m waiting for it to become official. Not just something in the media; it has to be an official document,” she told the outlet. “It’s very hard for me right now. This whole spectacle drags on.”
Canada monitoring situation in Russia
Pneumonic plague is caused by Yersinia pestis — the same bacteria responsible for the 14th century’s “Black Death,” the bubonic plague outbreak that wiped out up to 60% of Europe’s population.
But while bubonic plague is spread by the bites of fleas infected by diseased rats, pneumonic plague is far more dangerous as it’s centred in the lungs and can spread through person-to-person contact.
While fatality rates for bubonic plague range from 30% to 60% for untreated patients, pneumonic plague is almost always fatal without early treatment with antibiotics within 24 hours of infection.
Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel said Ottawa is monitoring the situation alongside the World Health Organization, with the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed to CTV News that they’re tracking the case, adding in a statement that “no risk to Canada has been identified.”
Canada’s last recorded human case of plague occurred in 1939.
- Drug-resistant sexually transmissible bacterial infection rising in U.S: CDC
- Toronto Public Health IDs source of Legionnaires' outbreak as TTC cooling tower
- Person who recently travelled to East Africa being tested for Ebola virus in Ontario
Test tube tales
Svetlana also expressed her doubts that a broken test tube is what caused the exposure.
“I know the truth,” she said. “I’m fending off stupid people I know who believed all this. The smart ones didn’t believe it, of course.”
She explained: “Even some medical professionals don’t understand that it’s impossible to break that test tube. Even if you fling it against a wall. Only someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about could say that.”
Darya’s mother continued: “Even hypothetically, you simply can’t spill what’s inside or break the tube. They’re that well protected.”