Russian officials say ‘situation under control’ after plague reports

Moscow downplayed reports that a laboratory technician had died of plague on Monday, asserting that post-mortem tests had not detected the disease. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people to rely on official statements from the Russian health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, rather than rumors and speculation. The incident occurred in Irkutsk, Siberia, where a 28-year-old woman named Darya Shipilova was reportedly working at the anti-plague institute.

Reports suggested she may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube, though this was denied by the regional governor, Igor Kobzev. Kobzev stated that a special expert commission had found the cause of death to be pneumonia of undetermined aetiology and that no microorganisms linked to the woman's professional work were found in her biological samples.

There have been no new cases of staff from the anti-plague institute seeking medical attention since the woman's death, according to Kobzev. The situation in Irkutsk is deemed stable by the sanitary-epidemiological authorities. While the United States has said it is closely monitoring the situation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that there was no cause for alarm, emphasizing that limited travel between the US and Russia means any potential spread could be contained.