US presses Russia for answers over suspected plague death at Siberian lab

• The US has formally asked Russia for more information on a reported plague death at a Siberian lab, with the WHO adding pressure on Moscow to be more transparent.
• Russian authorities deny special anti-plague measures have been taken, saying tests did not confirm plague, and that the cause of the lab technician’s death remains “undetermined”.
• China says it is working closely with Russia on infectious disease control, while Mongolia says the risk is “low” and will keep monitoring the border.

WASHINGTON – The United States made a formal request pressing Russia for information on the reported plague death of a laboratory technician, a source close to the matter has revealed, as calls grew for transparency from Moscow.

Russian authorities have denied that they are imposing anti-plague measures and played down reports of an incident at an anti-plague institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region last week.

But US President Donald Trump said he would speak soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) head called on Moscow to be open about the situation.

“We have officially requested additional information from the Russian government,” a State Department spokesman said on Oct 6.

“We are also in official communication with other countries around the world to share information,” he added.

The request for information was sent via a confidential diplomatic communication, known as a demarche, according to a source close to the matter.

During a trip to Iceland, Rubio said: “We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately.”

Trump later said he would be speaking to Putin about what happened.

“I have a call scheduled, yes,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he had spoken to Putin on the issue yet, adding that it would happen “very soon”.

Asked what US intelligence agencies were saying about the situation, Trump said: “We’re in very deep discussions. We’ll be able to report on it probably tomorrow.”

On Oct 6, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also urged Russia to be transparent about the death of the technician.

“Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the International Health Regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public health risks,” he wrote on X.

Broken test tube

Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported on Oct 2 that the lab technician – identified as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova – may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube.

Other media reported a possible link between her death and a lab accident at the facility.

The People of Baikal outlet also said up to 200 people with whom she may have had contact were under quarantine.

But Russian authorities say the cause of death is not confirmed, and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has denied claims circulating in a document online that special measures had been put in place.

“We wish to clarify that the document and information in question do not originate from official sources and are untrue,” it said on Telegram.

Russian officials said postmortem tests had not detected the disease.

Irkutsk Regional Governor Igor Kobzev said on Oct 5 that a Rospotrebnadzor inspection found the woman died of pneumonia and the cause was “undetermined”.

“No microorganisms linked to the young woman’s professional work were found in her biological samples,” he said, adding that no other staff at the institute had sought medical attention since her death.

Chinese response

In its first official comments about the incident, China said it is cooperating with Russia as health concerns intensify around the world.

“China and Russia maintain close communication and cooperation in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including the plague,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Oct 6 in response to a question about whether Moscow has informed Beijing of the incident.

Just over a month ago, the research institute in Irkutsk concluded an emergency response trial with China on handling infectious disease outbreaks. Russian and Chinese participants also discussed how to monitor and control the spread of diseases in their border regions.

The Irkutsk region lies north of Mongolia and does not directly border China, but the local capital is a major hub with frequent flights and rail links to Chinese cities.

Mongolia’s Ministry of Health released a statement on Oct 7 saying it assesses the risk from the incident to be “low”. The ministry added that work will continue to control border security and monitor health at the frontier with Russia in cooperation with relevant agencies. AFP, BLOOMBERG