The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the plague risk remains low after the sudden death of a 28-year-old laboratory technician who worked at a plague research institute in Siberia.
No signs of wider outbreak
Darya Shipilova died last week, two days after falling ill. Russian media reports suggested she may have been infected following an accident at the Irkutsk institute, where dangerous pathogens are studied.
Russian authorities have said Shipilova died from “pneumonia of an unknown aetiology” while investigations continue into whether viral pneumonic plague was involved.
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said on Tuesday that there was no evidence of a wider outbreak. He said all known contacts had reportedly been identified and were being monitored, with none showing symptoms so far.
The WHO assessed the health risk as “moderate to low” in Irkutsk, “low” across the rest of Russia and “very low” in Europe.
Quarantine measures imposed
Around 60 colleagues of Shipilova have reportedly remained inside the research institute since Friday while tests are carried out. Similar restrictions have been imposed at five hospitals, with relatives reportedly barred from visiting patients.
Russia’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said the situation in Irkutsk remained stable and that no new infectious disease cases had been reported among institute employees.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov urged people not to rely on rumours and instead follow information from health authorities.
US calls for more information
The United States is closely monitoring the situation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Moscow to provide more information about the case, saying Washington was watching developments “very closely”.
US President Donald Trump had earlier said his administration was prepared to offer assistance if needed.
Rospotrebnadzor responded by saying Russia was also ready to help the US address infectious disease outbreaks, pointing to recent measles cases in three US states and a fatal plague case reported in New Mexico in June.
Also read: Siberian plague case: What we know so far
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