The death of an employee at Irkutsk’s anti-plague institute prompted concern and rumours of pneumonic plague, but Russian authorities said the diagnosis had not been confirmed. WHO assessed the public-health risk as low to moderate in the region; available reporting does not establish an outbreak.
Irkutsk residents interviewed by AFP for The Straits Times questioned whether a laboratory worker had died of plague. Their comments came amid conflicting reports about the death of 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute.
Russian health authorities said the cause of death was pneumonia of unknown origin and that tests had found no dangerous pathogens linked to the woman’s work. Publicly available information does not make clear whether the reported negative results included tests on Shipilova herself. WHO relayed that Russian authorities had reported no registered plague cases in Irkutsk and negative results among people who had contact with her.
International reporting said authorities identified and monitored about 200 contacts. WHO assessed the public-health risk as low to moderate in Irkutsk region, low for Russia as a whole and very low for the European region. Those assessments reflect the information available; they do not establish the cause of death.
Unconfirmed accounts previously circulated in Russian and international media alleging a laboratory infection or a broken test tube. Authorities said they had found no accident involving pathogenic microorganisms at the institute. The official cause of death remains pneumonia of unknown origin, and no confirmed plague outbreak has been reported.
In the AFP report for The Straits Times, several residents said they did not view the situation as an immediate threat. Those street interviews reflect the views of the people questioned, not a medical assessment of risk. WHO and Russian health authorities have urged people to rely on confirmed information.