Shelekhov, a small town in Siberia, Russia, has recently made global media headlines due to a suspected outbreak of plague. However, in a Russian society full of unsolved mysteries and opaque governance, local residents admitted that they knew no more about the crisis than online rumors, and were full of distrust and ridicule of official statements.
CNN reported on the 8th that Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory technician at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk, died suddenly last week. Six days after the incident, Russian officials refused to confirm that she died of plague, despite strong requests from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States for more information.
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The Russian Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Welfare Supervision Service (Rospotrebnadzor) announced that Shibilova died of "pneumonia of unknown origin" and tried to downplay the connection between her cause and laboratory work, but at the same time quickly isolated her contacts.
This contradictory move made the public scorn the official statement. Evgeniya, a 36-year-old local resident, said: "There is no transparent official information at all, and we don't believe it anyway. Rumors are flying now, but the actual situation is still unknown."
Not only the general public is skeptical, but the medical community is also skeptical. A Russian clinician who wished to remain anonymous told the independent media Lyudi Baikala that it would take up to 10 days to confirm the pathogen. "In just one day after the autopsy, it is impossible to accurately identify the pathogen. The official claim that it has nothing to do with professional activities is unconvincing."
"Baikal" quoted residents as saying that on the evening of the 2nd, three cars arrived at Shibilova's apartment building in Irkutsk. Personnel wearing gas masks and orange protective clothing began to conduct large-scale disinfection at the entrance. A resident said: "The smell was unbearable and very pungent. The disinfection staff only said that a young woman died of a deadly virus and knew nothing else." This kind of extensive anti-epidemic measures is obviously far from the "unknown pneumonia" mentioned by the officials.
This crisis is also accompanied by a human tragedy. The mother of the victim is also currently isolated in the hospital. She sadly expressed that her daughter has not yet been buried: "We are all locked up here, who will bury her?"
Faced with the country's concealment and pressure, Russians display a survival mentality that combines helplessness and irony. Yulia, 25, said people were "no longer surprised" by the restrictions on information.
An Irkutsk resident used black humor to mock the political rhetoric commonly used in Russian official statements on the messaging software Telegram: "In Russia, explosions are called 'bang,' economic recession is called 'negative growth,' crashes are called 'hard landings,' fires are called 'smoke,' and retreats are called 'acts of goodwill.'"
"So, the plague is called 'pneumonia of unknown origin'. Anyone who contracts this type of pneumonia of unknown origin should wrap themselves up in a sheet and crawl slowly to the cemetery. But remember to move slowly, because the most important thing is not to cause trouble to the authorities."
