India, Oct. 4 -- Reports about a potential spread of the Yersinia pestis bacterium in Russia have sparked concerns worldwide about a suspected plague outbreak.

It started with the death of a young lab worker in Russia's Siberia region. Nearly 200 people have been forced into isolation amid the spread of the disease. Russia, notably, has not confirmed the disease as plague. Igor Kobzev, the governor of Siberia, has described it only as "a dangerous infectious disease." But reports, especially in the United States, have sparked concerns that the disease in question could be plague, and the Putin regime in Russia is covering it up.

At the center of the controversy is the death of a 28-year-old lab scientist, Daria Shipilova, who worked wit...