WHO seeks answers on reported second illness at Russian plague institute

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday, 7 October, that it had asked Russia to verify reports of a second employee with pneumonia at an anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk region, after another laboratory worker died. The agency says it still lacks the information needed to assess the potential public health risk. The Kremlin says Russia informed WHO and has accused news outlets of spreading false information.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the reported second employee had pneumonia of undetermined cause. WHO has sought verification of that report; it has not confirmed a second case or identified what caused the first worker’s illness. The distinction matters because early reports suggested pneumonic plague after an accidental laboratory exposure, while Russia has told WHO that no plague case was recently reported in Irkutsk oblast.

What WHO has asked Russia to clarify

In remarks published for its 7 October media briefing, WHO said the first reports about the worker appeared on 2 October. The worker died after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia. WHO said it asked Russia for more information the following day under the International Health Regulations. Russia replied on 6 October that about 200 contacts had been placed in quarantine and that no plague case had recently been reported in the region.

The response has left questions that WHO says it needs answered. It has requested details of laboratory tests on the worker who died and on her contacts, an explanation of what prompted the public health measures, and information about the contacts’ health. WHO has also offered technical support concerning plague and laboratory biosafety and biosecurity. Tedros said the agency could not conduct a full risk assessment without a more complete account.

What Russian authorities and the Kremlin say

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia had informed WHO of the death in line with established procedures, according to Reuters. He said much reporting about the incident was false and directed the public to statements from the Russian health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor. His assertion about the reporting came as WHO continued to seek test results and verification of the reported second illness.

Rospotrebnadzor said Tuesday that it had detected no plague cases among people who had contact with the deceased worker, Reuters reported. The Associated Press reported that the watchdog described her illness as pneumonia of unknown origin and said extensive tests had found no evidence that pathogens she handled at the institute caused it. Those statements address the information Russian authorities had released, while WHO’s outstanding requests concern the underlying tests, the reason for the precautions and the contacts’ current health.

According to AP, Rospotrebnadzor described the sanitary and epidemiological situation in Irkutsk and nearby Shelekhov as calm. It said preventive measures and medical observation were being completed and reported two COVID-19 and two rhinovirus cases among contacts, with no other infectious pathogens found. WHO’s account of Russia’s response said about 200 contacts had been quarantined. The public accounts do not fully establish their current health status.

Why the cause of death remains unresolved

AP reported that WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said the agency did not know the causative agent behind the worker’s illness. Russian authorities had described the illness as initially resembling a typical acute respiratory viral infection, according to WHO’s account reported by AP. That account does not settle what caused the severe pneumonia or explain why the public health measures were taken.

The earlier suggestion of an accidental exposure remains an unconfirmed media account, WHO said. AP reported that an independent Russian outlet identified the deceased worker as Darya Shipilova, 28, and that her mother told another outlet she had not received official documents stating the cause of death. Neither account establishes a diagnosis. WHO’s request for laboratory results is therefore central to understanding both the death and the precautions taken around the worker’s contacts.

The immediate next step is Russia’s response to WHO’s requests: verification of the reported second employee, the laboratory findings and an account of the contacts’ health. Until those details are available, the cause of the first worker’s death and the reported second illness remain unresolved. WHO says it cannot complete its risk assessment on the information it has received.