Vladimir Putin is facing accusations of covering up a suspected outbreak of plague in Siberia after a young laboratory worker died and close to 200 people were placed into isolation.

Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, died on Thursday after falling critically ill earlier in the week. She had initially become unwell during a field expedition near the Russian border with Mongolia before being admitted on Tuesday to a hospital in Shelekhov with symptoms of severe pneumonia, where she was placed on a ventilator.

According to the independent Russian news outlet Lyudi Baikala, Ms Shipilova told medical staff she had accidentally shattered a test tube containing live bacteria whilst collecting samples. In response to her death, authorities declared a Covid-style quarantine, isolated the hospital in Shelekhov, and placed all individuals who had been in contact with her under medical observation.

The scale of the incident prompted Russia's chief public health official, Anna Popova, to travel roughly 2,600 miles from Moscow to the Irkutsk region to help coordinate containment measures, The Moscow Times reported. Ms Popova has not made any public comment on the outbreak.

Regional Governor Igor Kobzev has refused to publicly name the illness, describing it only as "a dangerous infectious disease" while cancelling all public events across the wider region.

Following his meeting with Ms Popova, Mr Kobzev moved to reassure the public. "All identified contact persons have been placed under medical observation. As of today, the contacts show no signs of illness, and their laboratory test results are negative," he wrote on Telegram on Friday.

Despite those reassurances, anxiety appears to be spreading locally. Reports have emerged that pharmacies and medical facilities across the Irkutsk region have run out of antibiotics as alarmed residents rush to buy up supplies.

Medical specialists have also voiced serious doubt over the official narrative. As reported by The Moscow Times, senior Russian epidemiologist Mikhal Favorov dismissed the broken test tube explanation as implausible, suggesting it points towards an attempt to conceal the truth.

"It's laughable," Favorov said, pointing out that laboratory personnel wear protective anti-plague suits. "If you break a test tube, the likelihood of infection is actually very low. In short, it doesn't matter to the general public — they'll believe the 'dropped test tube story.' It's absolutely hair-raising... We will not be told what really happened."

The Russian political insider channel Nezygar has drawn comparisons between the response and the early handling of Covid-19 in Wuhan. Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis — the organism behind the medieval Black Death that killed tens of millions — and can take bubonic, pneumonic, or septicaemic forms. While it is treatable with antibiotics if diagnosed early, the Kremlin now faces growing scrutiny over the lack of transparency surrounding the fatality.

What we don't know yet is the exact nature of the breach that led to Ms Shipilova's infection, or whether any further cases will emerge from the dozens currently held in isolation. I'll be following this one — check back for updates.