Russian health authorities reported a bubonic plague outbreak in Siberia on October 5, 2026, after a researcher died and quarantines were imposed. Reporting has since identified the victim as Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, who fell ill and died on October 2 of pneumonia from an unknown cause, with about 200 contacts quarantined and five hospitals locked down. Russian authorities say roughly 60 percent of her contacts have been tested, finding two COVID and two rhinovirus cases but no plague, and no secondary infections have been reported. The discussion has moved to whether researchers at the institute were modifying existing plague samples, a question U.S. officials are examining, and Rubio has publicly urged Russia…