Media: Epidemiologists In Siberia Had Been Preparing For A Plague Outbreak In Advance

• 6.10.2026, 9:27

The director of the Irkutsk Research Institute for Plague Control took part in exercises in China.

Sergey Balakhonov , director of the Irkutsk Research Institute for Plague Control , whose employee died of pneumonic plague, took part in exercises on responding to cross-border infectious diseases in China a few weeks ago, according to social media users X.

On August 24–27, 2026, Balakhonov attended exercises in the Chinese city of Fuyuan, during which procedures were practiced for responding to the introduction of highly dangerous infections from abroad and the outbreak of the so-called “Disease X.”

The exercise program included Chinese and Russian specialists practicing responses to a plague outbreak, issuing emergency alerts, coordinating measures to combat a highly dangerous disease, and other activities. In addition, Balakhonov delivered a presentation during the exercises in China. The topic of the presentation was not specified.
As a reminder, on October 2, Russia’s Chief State Sanitary Doctor Anna Popova arrived in the Irkutsk Region. She convened an extraordinary meeting of the regional sanitary and anti-epidemic commission due to a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infectious disease in the region.

Subsequently, information appeared online claiming that an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute had died of the plague. Rospotrebnadzor denies this. According to the agency, the patient was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown etiology.