【於慶中／綜合報導】俄羅斯遠東西伯利亞一處鼠疫（Plague）研究機構，日前傳出一名實驗室人員疑似染疫死亡，當局已隔離約200名接觸者，衛生監督機構負責人緊急飛抵伊爾庫茨克州（Irkutsk region），不過俄羅斯當局否認正在實施防疫措施。美方對此表示關切，國務卿盧比歐（Marco Rubio）呼籲俄羅斯公開說明情況，世界衛生組織（WHO）今天也提出類似呼籲。
當地媒體證實，死者為伊爾庫茨克西伯利亞與遠東鼠疫防治研究所（Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East）28歲員工希皮洛娃（Darya Shipilova）。她在工作時發病，2天後的上周五（2日）晚間在鄰近城鎮舍列霍夫（Shelekhov）的地區醫院死亡。
BREAKING:
5 hospitals have been closed for quarantines in Siberia due to a possible plague outbreak.
The 28-year-old lab technician Darya Shipilova, died yesterday after breaking a test tube with live Yersinia pestis the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute on September 25th while handling samples.
A mask mandate has now been introduced at the huge aluminum plant in Irkutsk.
Some U.S. politicians are now calling for commercial air travel to and from Russia to be stopped until the situation is clarified.
This first symptoms of pneumonic plague typically start about 4 to 7 days after exposure. 200 people are under observation.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 4, 2026
有未經證實的說法指她可能在實驗室發生意外後感染，官方暫時並未對外確認。社群平台曾傳她打翻裝有活菌的試管，俄羅斯聯邦消費者權益保護與公益監督局（Rospotrebnadzor）向官媒表示，研究所未發現處理病原體時發生事故的證據。
Russian officials quarantined dozens of people after a laboratory worker at a plague research institute in Siberia fell ill and died in undisclosed circumstances. US authorities are monitoring the situation https://t.co/SyCwlPXJvh https://t.co/eYVAARLZZg
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 6, 2026
綜合路透與《The Guardian》報導，當局稱她死於病因尚未確定的肺炎。伊爾庫茨克州州長科布澤夫（Igor Kobzev）說，她死於「病因不明的肺炎」（pneumonia of unknown aetiology），並表示：「重要的是，過去幾天並未發現鼠疫防治研究所有新的員工就醫」。他說情勢已受控制，已知接觸者都已找出、接受檢查並置於醫學觀察。
俄羅斯國家首席衛生醫師波波娃（Anna Popova）上周末飛抵西伯利亞召開緊急會議；她上周五抵達伊爾庫茨克，出席地方衛生防疫委員會會議，官方稱此案疑似「特別危險感染」。科布澤夫會後在個人加密社群Telegram寫道：「所有已查明的接觸者都已置於醫學觀察。截至今天，沒有人出現病徵，實驗室檢測結果為陰性。」他未提及有實驗室人員死亡。
公益監督局其後透過官方塔斯社（TASS）表示，伊爾庫茨克州官員在接觸者中發現2例感染新冠病毒與2例鼻病毒，並未發現其他傳染病；檢測也未發現與她業務相關的微生物，並稱當地「衛生與流行病」情勢穩定。
鄰近布里亞特（Buryatia）地區領導人齊德諾夫（Alexey Tsydenov）起初稱她死於鼠疫，隨後把貼文改為「可能」（possibly）死於該病。貝加爾斯克（Baikalsk）當局曾短暫呼籲居民避免前往舍列霍夫及周邊聚落，理由是非官方的可能鼠疫感染訊息，其後刪除貼文。
What is happening in Irkutsk, and how fast could it spread?
On September 29, Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, was taken to hospital with severe pneumonia. She died on October 1 or early October 2.
Local reports say she may have broken a test tube with live plague bacteria and died of pneumonic plague. A neighboring governor first wrote that she died of plague, then changed the post to “possibly.”
Russian officials do not confirm this. Rospotrebnadzor says the cause is “pneumonia of unknown origin.” They say tests found no microbes linked to her lab work, and no lab accident was recorded. The Kremlin says people should trust only official statements, not rumors.
About 197 contacts were placed under watch. The governor says they have no signs of the same illness, and lab tests are negative. Among contacts, officials found two cases of COVID-19 and two of rhinovirus, nothing else. Some institute staff were kept inside the building. Some hospitals limited visitors. Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk. WHO says the public risk looks low and is checking the tests with Russia. The U.S. is also watching.
Prediction on spread:
If officials are right, and this was not plague, it does not spread. One death, no second case of the same illness after several days, and negative tests in contacts. That pattern does not look like an outbreak.
If the local reports are right, and this was pneumonic plague, spread is still usually slow and limited.
Pneumonic plague passes only by close cough droplets, not through the air across a city like measles. You need to be near a sick person. The silent period is short, about 1 to 4 days, often around 2 to 3. After symptoms start, a person is dangerous mainly while coughing, and without antibiotics most people die in 1 to 3 days. That short window limits chains of infection.
In past outbreaks, one sick person infected on average about 1.3 others before control. Many infected no one. A few infected several. With antibiotics and isolation, modern death rates fall sharply, and chains usually stop.
The key clock is already running. Her close contacts have been watched for several days. If no new pneumonia of the same type appears in the next 4 to 7 days, a spreading outbreak is very unlikely. If two or three new lung cases appear in those contacts, then the local report becomes much stronger, and the next ring of contacts must be isolated at once.
Right now the evidence points to a contained event, not a fast city outbreak. The missing piece is an open lab result naming the germ. Until that is public, both the official “unknown pneumonia” line and the plague rumor stay incomplete.— Rodi =AMERICAN (@PaintingRodin) October 6, 2026
世界衛生組織（WHO）依現有資訊表示，「對一般民眾的公共衛生風險看來偏低」，並稱一旦有進一步資訊將重新評估。美國總統川普（Donald Trump）稱這起死亡是「俄羅斯的大問題」，並表示願協助莫斯科處理。他說：「我們會幫忙，任何遇到這種問題的人，我們一向願意幫忙」。
美國國務卿盧比奧（Marco Rubio）周一（5日）啟程赴歐洲前說，華府正密切關注。他表示：「我們正在密切觀察與監測」，「我不認為這足以觸發警報，但值得聚焦，也值得持續盯著」。
盧比奧援引俄方公布的訊息說，似乎是實驗室一名工作人員感染，並擔憂疾病可能在內部擴散，「美國與俄羅斯之間的旅行顯然非常有限」，「但就像其他事情一樣，這種東西一旦外洩，就會迅速蔓延」。
鼠疫在西伯利亞屬地方性疫病。已知最早的史前人類疫情即發生於此，致病菌鼠疫耶爾森菌（Yersinia pestis）存在於廣大荒野的小型野生哺乳動物及其跳蚤身上。俄羅斯人染上鼠疫並不常見，但世界其他地區、尤其非洲每年仍有病例。
鼠疫分三種型態，侵犯身體不同部位；肺鼠疫感染肺部，病人會咳出帶有病原的飛沫。若及早發現可用抗生素治療，未治療則可能在1至6天內致命。俄羅斯上一次記錄到的人類感染是在2016年，西伯利亞阿爾泰共和國（Altai Republic）一名10歲男童在協助宰殺土撥鼠後染病。
儘管尚未確認診斷，預防措施已在當地展開。俄羅斯媒體報導，約200名與死者有過接觸的人被隔離，她死亡的舍列霍夫醫院部分區域被封鎖，一座鋁廠要求員工戴口罩。廠長福明內赫（Artyom Fominykh）稱這是預防措施，並說：「有備無患」。日伊爾庫茨克周末的數場公開活動取消。
《自由歐洲電台》（Radio Free Europe）周一報導，伊爾庫茨克數家醫院被隔離；該台確認，希皮洛娃任職的研究所員工自10月2日起被留在所內。一名名叫羅曼（Roman）的親屬告訴新聞入口網站《Siberia.Realities》：「他們從上周五起就把所有人隔離，超過60人」。當地媒體稱，員工被迫睡在地板和椅子上，家屬可在檢查站遞送食物。伊爾庫茨克市立臨床醫院1號與伊瓦諾－馬特連寧斯卡亞兒童醫院的病人說，親屬不得探視，裡面的人也不准離開。
當地民眾加夫留尼娜（Ulyana Gavryunina）周一到伊爾庫茨克一家主要婦產醫院做例行檢查，醫師以疑似鼠疫而實施的檢疫為由，不讓她母親進入；工作人員檢查她有無類流感症狀，並要她填寫感染篩檢表，表上列有「鼠疫」。她把表格照片貼上個人Instagram。
流亡西伯利亞媒體《貝加爾人》（People of Baikal）記者特里福諾娃（Elena Trifonova）說：「街上的日常生活看不出明顯變化，但人們擔心、焦慮。當地人氣憤沒有人告訴他們任何事」。
美國政界也提出關切。這起事件發生在克里姆林宮長期、且缺乏根據地指控烏克蘭在華府支持下秘密進行生物武器研究之後。眾議院軍事委員會資深成員、共和黨聯邦眾議員貝肯（Don Bacon）在個人社群寫道：「我記得反烏克蘭的聲音談過他們所謂的生物實驗室。那是俄羅斯假訊息操作的拿手好戲。但現實是，有生物實驗室的是俄羅斯」。
英國雷丁大學（University of Reading）病毒學教授瓊斯（Ian Jones）認為：「這裡這個病例看起來像是罕見的實驗室意外，不太可能再擴大很多」，「雖然肺鼠疫確實可直接傳播，但初發病例的接觸者已知，一旦出現感染跡象就可以治療」。他補充：「鼠疫背負沉重的歷史，至今仍存在於世界許多地方，包括俄羅斯，但過去促成鼠疫傳播的生活條件大體已不復存在，抗生素也可用，因此其潛在風險有限」。
