Russia tells WHO no plague found in dead lab worker

Russia has told the World Health Organization that no plague was detected in a laboratory worker who died in the Irkutsk region, but the cause of her death remains unknown, the WHO said Saturday.

File photo: A satellite image shows the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, Russia, May 8, 2025. An employee of the institute, Darya Shipilova, 28, was named by Russian media as the laboratory worker who, according to authorities, died from pneumonia of an as-yet unestablished origin on October 2, 2026, prompting authoriti

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The WHO said in a post on X that “the key unknown remains the lack of a confirmed diagnosis in the deceased laboratory worker”. Russia has not confirmed any case of plague infection.

In reply to official enquiries, Moscow said no plague cases had been registered recently in the region. It said tests on people who had been in contact with the woman “did not show the presence of high-risk pathogens” and that there had been no biosafety incident at the institute where she worked.

On that basis, the WHO said “no evidence of ongoing transmission” had been found, but it would continue to monitor the situation.

Daria Shypilova, 28, was admitted to hospital with severe pneumonia on 29 September and died on 2 October. Earlier media reports suggested she may have contracted pneumonic plague in the laboratory. About 200 people were placed under observation and quarantine after her death.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had earlier said the organisation could not carry out a full risk assessment, citing incomplete data from Russia and the unexplained cause of her death.

(jh)

Source: PAP