WHO requests more information from Russia over reported plague death at Siberian laboratory

LAST UPDATE | 41 mins ago

THE WORLD HEALTH Organisation (WHO) has said it could not produce a full risk assessment as it did not yet have the whole picture from Russia on the suspected plague death of a laboratory technician.

Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported last Friday that a 28-year-old woman, Darya Shipilova, who was employed at a plague research institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region had died of the disease, possibly after contracting it 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.

International concern has grown over the death and suspicions that a second employee at the institute fell ill.

The WHO, the United States and the European Union have urged Moscow to provide more information about what happened. 

Earlier, US president Donald Trump said he was due to speak over the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the case.

“I have a call scheduled, yes,” the Republican leader 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 added: “We’re in very deep discussions. We’ll be able to report on it probably tomorrow.”

‘We don’t understand how she was infected’

Speaking at a press conference today, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “We don’t yet have the full picture of this event and we’re not able to conduct a full risk assessment.

“Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the international regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public and risks.”

Tedros said the anti-plague laboratory worker died after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia, with initial media reports suggesting pneumonia plague following an accidental lab exposure.

“WHO is aware that the Russian government held a meeting on 2 October because they suspected a resident of the Irkutsk oblast had contracted a dangerous infection,” he added.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic management, added: “We don’t understand how she was infected.”

The UN health agency wanted to know “what she was infected with, number one; and secondly, once we know that, how she was infected?”

If pneumonic plague “is ruled out, what did she actually die from?”, she said.

Tedros said he also wanted more clarification from Moscow following media reports of “a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause”.

“We assess any reporting from the community,” he told reporters.

“We have actually received this information from two media outlets.

“We asked Russia to respond to that… we’re waiting for an answer, because any reporting that comes, we cannot ignore it,” he said, adding “I hope we will get an answer to that, formally.”

‘No epidemic risks’

Russian authorities have played down the reports, determining the woman died of pneumonia and insisting there was no risk of an outbreak.

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Asked today about reports of a second case, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “the vast majority of what the media is reporting regarding this situation is false information”.

People should rely solely on official statements from Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, he insisted.

Meanwhile, the Russian health agency said today that it had determined “there are no epidemic risks for the population”.

It said extensive investigations had uncovered “no emergencies” and that the lab had complied with “proper control when working with pathogenic microorganisms”.

“More than 90% of contacts have completed medical observation,” it added.

“No health disorders associated with infectious pathology were detected,” it said, adding that “the results of almost 5,000 laboratory tests did not reveal any dangerous pathogenic microorganisms”.

The agency also said the woman had been “vaccinated and had immunity to dangerous infections with which she worked”.

Irkutsk Regional Governor Igor Kobzev said Monday that an inspection by Rospotrebnadzor had found the woman died of “pneumonia of undetermined aetiology”.

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

Those assurances have done little to quell international concern.

The US made a formal request pressing Russia for information, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly said it should “share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately”.

Asked about this today, Peskov insisted that he had “no information” regarding a formal US request for clarification, nor about a call scheduled between Trump and Putin.

European Commission spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova today called for Russia to “share timely and transparent reporting” about the reported plague case.

While determining there were no epidemic risks, Rospotrebnadzor said it had implemented a set of “anti-epidemic measures” as a precaution and in line with sanitary legislation.

It also stressed that it had shared information with the WHO in accordance with international health regulations.

‘Moderate to low’ risk

Plague is a bacterial disease that can occur in several forms, including pneumonic plague, the most contagious type, which can spread through respiratory droplets.

Bubonic plague is transmitted by infected fleas.

Pneumonic plague, which causes lung failure, can be fatal if not treated early, according to the WHO.

Trump said Monday he was ready to help Russia if needed.

But in an apparent response to Trump’s offer, the Russian watchdog said on Tuesday that Moscow was prepared to assist the US in combating its own outbreaks of infectious diseases.

It highlighted a “significantly worsened” measles situation in three US states, and a “fatal case of plague” recorded in New Mexico in June, among other things.

Measles cases have increased under the Trump administration, in which vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr serves as health secretary.

An international conference on plague and other infectious diseases will be held in Irkutsk on 21-22 October, although organisers said it was “unrelated to the recent death of an employee of the anti-plague institute.”

© AFP 2026