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Plague epidemic risk in Russia low, WHO says, as US presses Moscow for details
The World Health Organization says the plague epidemic risk in Russia is low after Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab technician at a plague research institute in Irkutsk, Siberia, died suddenly last week - but Washington is pressing Moscow to release more details about the case.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 6, 2026
• 3 Min Read
The World Health Organization says the plague epidemic risk in Russia is low after Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab technician at a plague research institute in Irkutsk, Siberia, died suddenly last week - but Washington is pressing Moscow to release more details about the case.
Washington presses Moscow for detail
US secretary of state Marco Rubio called on Moscow on Tuesday to release more details about the case, saying Russia should share more information with the world. "We're watching it very closely, hour by hour," he said.
Donald Trump had said earlier that his administration was willing to offer assistance over the risk of plague coming from Russia. "Everybody who has that kind of a problem, we'll always help," Trump told reporters at the White House.
WHO grades the risk by geography
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier gave the agency's assessment on Tuesday and said there was no sign of a wider outbreak. The graded risk runs:
- •"moderate to low" for Irkutsk, where Shipilova worked
- •"low" for the rest of Russia
- •"very low" for Europe
On those who came near the patient, Lindmeier said:
"All of the patients' contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness"
Moscow's answer: stability at home, finger pointed at the US
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov urged people on Tuesday not to listen to rumours but to rely on statements from Russia's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor. The watchdog called the situation in Irkutsk stable, with no new infectious disease cases reported among institute employees.
Rospotrebnadzor also announced that Russia was prepared to assist the US in combating its own outbreaks of infectious diseases, saying the situation regarding dangerous infectious diseases remains unstable. It pointed to:
- •a "significantly worsened" measles situation in three US states
- •a "fatal case of plague" recorded in New Mexico in June
The case under investigation
Shipilova died last week, two days after falling ill. Russian media reports suggested she may have become infected after an accident at her workplace, where dangerous pathogens are kept and studied, though authorities said she died of "pneumonia of an unknown aetiology".
Strict containment is in place while the inquiry continues:
- •Quarantine measures have been imposed at the research centre in Irkutsk and in five hospitals, where relatives are forbidden to see patients.
- •Russian media reported that 60 of Shipilova's colleagues have been locked in the institute since Friday, sleeping on floors and chairs while tests are carried out.
Russian officials were still investigating whether viral pneumonic plague caused her death.
