Russia denied taking special measures to combat plague in the Siberian Irkutsk region after reports linked the death of a young employee at a specialist institute to the disease, as the United States called on Moscow to provide more information and be transparent about the health situation. Concerns began after reports published on Friday said Daria Shipilova, aged 28, had died. She worked at a plague-control institute in Irkutsk.
Russia denies alleged special health measures document
The reports linked the death to a possible infection with the disease, while Russian authorities said at the time that the cause had not been determined. The Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, known as Rospotrebnadzor, denied the authenticity of a document circulated online that claimed special health measures had been adopted following the incident.
The agency said in a Telegram post that the document and the information it contained had not been issued by official sources and were untrue. It added that no decision had been taken at that point to impose measures of this kind, stressing that the health situation in Irkutsk region was stable. The denial came as local reports circulated about health restrictions and quarantine cases linked to the employee's death.
People of Baikal reported on Friday, citing sources it described as close to the region's security services, that Shipilova may have contracted pneumonic plague after a test tube broke. Other media outlets also reported a possible link between her death and an incident inside the laboratory of the facility where she worked.
Russian officials, however, said post-mortem tests found no evidence that Shipilova had plague. People of Baikal reported that up to 200 people who may have had contact with the employee had been placed in quarantine, while Telegram channels and local media said several hospitals in Irkutsk had imposed a three-week quarantine.
Russian tests rule out employee's infection with plague
Irkutsk Region Governor Igor Kobzev said on Monday that a special committee of experts had investigated the case in the region and concluded that the employee had died from "pneumonia of unknown origin". Kobzev said in a Telegram post that tests conducted by Rospotrebnadzor had found no microorganisms linked to her professional work in the young woman's biological samples.
He also confirmed that no new cases had been recorded since her death among employees of the plague-control institute seeking medical care. The case attracted attention in the United States, where US President Donald Trump said, in response to a question from a reporter at the White House, that he would speak by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the matter, adding that the call would take place "very soon".
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday that it was closely monitoring developments. It added that there were currently no indications of a broader threat to the United States.
Washington calls on Moscow to disclose details of incident
The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington had formally warned Moscow that withholding details about the incident constituted a breach of international health obligations. Russian authorities, meanwhile, maintained that the situation in Irkutsk was under control. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Russia to be transparent on Tuesday, saying Washington was closely monitoring the situation.
Rubio said during a visit to Iceland that he believed it was Russia's duty to share more information with the world. Rospotrebnadzor responded by saying that Moscow was ready to help Washington control outbreaks of infectious diseases in the United States. It said the situation involving serious infectious diseases there remained unstable.
Rospotrebnadzor referred to what it described as a significant worsening of measles cases in three US states, as well as a death from plague recorded in New Mexico in June. It said Russia had extensive practical and scientific experience in epidemiological safety at both domestic and international levels.
World Health Organisation lowers outbreak risk assessment
The agency said it was ready to provide the US side with specialists, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic and preventive tools that it described as highly effective, in response to US demands for more details about the employee's death in Irkutsk. The World Health Organisation, for its part, announced on Tuesday that its initial assessment put the risk level at "low" for Russia and "very low" for Europe.
The organisation's spokesman, Christian Lindmeier, said during a news conference in Geneva that the assessment based on available information placed the level of risk in the city of Irkutsk between moderate and low.
Plague is a bacterial disease that appears in several forms, including pneumonic plague, which is considered the most transmissible. According to the World Health Organisation, this form can be fatal if it is not diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
