Comments about a new pandemic by Craig Hamilton-Parker, who presents himself in England as a medium and predictor of the future, have resurfaced following an incident in Russia’s Siberian region.
“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports that Hamilton-Parker claimed in a video published on September 24 that a new pandemic would occur in the future.
According to him, the disease would be bacterial and would particularly affect the lungs.
Several days after the medium made the comments, the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Research Institute for Plague Control in Irkutsk, from severe pneumonia prompted social media users to ask whether the “prediction had come true.”
Laboratory worker dies under mysterious circumstances
Darya Shipilova was admitted to hospital on September 29 and died on October 2. According to Reuters, her cause of death was described as an unknown form of pneumonia. About 200 people who had been in contact with her were placed under medical observation after the incident.
The fact that Shipilova worked at an institution specializing in plague and other dangerous infections drew further attention to the case.
Some local and international reports alleged that she had broken a test tube containing plague bacteria in the laboratory and contracted pneumonic plague as a result. However, this account has not been officially confirmed. Russian health authorities said they had found no link between Shipilova’s death and dangerous pathogens at the institute.
Why were quarantine measures taken?
People who had been in contact with Shipilova were placed under medical observation after the incident. Reports also said restrictions had been introduced at some medical facilities in Irkutsk and the surrounding area.
There have been no reports of plague being confirmed among those under observation. Reuters reported that no dangerous pathogen had been detected in the contacts.
The World Health Organization also assesses the current risk of a plague epidemic in Russia as low, based on the information available.
What is pneumonic plague?
One reason for the discussion is the mention of pneumonic plague, a form of the disease that affects the lungs.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Pneumonic plague is one of the severe forms of the disease and can have serious consequences if left untreated. It can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets during close contact. If diagnosed promptly, it can be treated with antibiotics.
How credible is the claim that the “prediction came true”?
The main reason social media users have linked Hamilton-Parker’s comments to the incident in Russia is that he spoke of a new “bacterial” disease that would affect the lungs.
However, the available information does not show that he accurately predicted the incident in Russia.
First, it has not been officially confirmed that plague caused Shipilova’s death. Second, Hamilton-Parker did not specifically mention Irkutsk, Darya Shipilova or an event that would take place on a particular date.
There is therefore no basis for saying that his general prediction was directly linked to the death in Russia.
Hamilton-Parker has also previously claimed to have predicted the coronavirus pandemic and an assassination attempt against U.S. President Donald Trump. Such predictions, however, should not be regarded as scientifically validated forecasts of future events.
The key fact at present is that the death of an employee of the plague research institute in Irkutsk is under investigation, but neither plague as the cause of her death nor the start of a new epidemic has been confirmed.
