How Russia and the world are responding to a possible case of pneumonic
plague after lab worker dies
[October 07, 2026]
By JAMEY KEATEN
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday
that Russian authorities have reported no case of plague in a Siberian
region where a woman employee of a laboratory that studies the disease
died of pneumonia last week.
The comments from Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus come a day after WHO said a
possible case of pneumonic plague in Russia presents a “very low” risk
outside the country as investigators looked into what caused her death
Friday.
The U.N. health agency says it has been in contact with Russian
authorities following the death of the staffer at the Irkutsk
Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. They cited a
“typical” acute respiratory viral infection.
The case and the investigation have revived memories of the COVID-19
pandemic and allegations the coronavirus may have emerged at a Chinese
lab. WHO has not provided a definitive answer to how the pandemic began.
Here's what to know about the case and how experts are mobilizing after
her death:
Pneumonic plague is a form of the disease that affects the lungs
The incubation period for pneumonic plague — the most virulent form of
the disease — can be as short as 24 hours, according to WHO. The
lung-based illness a less common but severe form of plague that can
spread between people via respiratory particles.
If untreated, the illness can be fatal, but recovery rates are high if
detected and treated in time, WHO says. Symptoms include shortness of
breath and coughing, often involving the coughing up of blood.
The more common form of plague — bubonic plague — is caused by the bite
of an infected flea, and can develop into open sores filled with pus.
Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that is mostly caused
by viruses or bacteria, and is spread generally through contact with
infected people or from airborne droplets.
What Russian officials are saying about the case
Through an international health alert system, Russian health officials
on Tuesday said a full range of preventive measures had been carried out
— including tracing of the deceased woman's contacts, medical monitoring
and lab tests.
“Test results showed no presence of dangerous infectious disease
pathogens in any of the contacts,” said the note from Russian
authorities, which was relayed to The Associated Press by WHO.
“Based on available data, laboratory test results, and health status,
medical monitoring for 100% of the contacts has now been concluded,” it
said. “The epidemiological situation is stable and remains under
monitoring.”
The woman died at a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside the city
of Irkutsk, and its mayor said the hospital was placed under quarantine.
The top officials from Russia’s national public health watchdog traveled
to the region Friday.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised the public to follow
official statements from the watchdog agency, Rospotrebnadzor, rather
than “rumors or speculation.”
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WHO has mobilized its own experts to look into the case
The Geneva-based health agency says the institute where the woman
worked studies “dangerous pathogens” and that plague occurs
naturally in wild animals in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.
“Initial media reports suggested pneumonic plague following an
alleged accidental laboratory exposure,” Tedros noted in the WHO
statement Wednesday.
As part of international health regulations, WHO asked Russia to
help clarify the situation and, in response, “the Russian health
authorities reported that no case of plague had recently been
registered in Irkutsk oblast,” he said.
WHO noted media reports about a second employee of the institute
“with pneumonia of undetermined cause.”
On Tuesday, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Russian
authorities had attributed the woman's illness to “a typical acute
respiratory viral infection.”
“The initial risk assessment from the information available
estimates that the risk to be moderate-to-low for Irkutsk; a low
risk for the Russian Federation as a whole; and very low for the WHO
European region,” he told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva.
Trump and Rubio monitoring the case
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he was watching the
situation with concern and that the United States would be willing
to help, though he said he had not spoken to Russian President
Vladimir Putin about the case.
Asked about Trump’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Tuesday
“it is always very good when mutual assistance is offered.” He
wouldn’t elaborate further, deferring to Rospotrebnadzor.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Russian authorities to
share more information.
“Maybe there’s nothing there. Maybe it’s bigger than we thought. We
don’t know,” he said at a news conference in Iceland.
“We encourage Russia to be more transparent and share more
information with the world,” Rubio said, adding this has so far been
“quite limited, but hopefully that will change in the next few hours
and days.”
Dr. Glenn Wortmann, at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said
the bacteria that cause plague don't “travel very far” and a person
would “really need to be face-to-face” with an infected person to
get pneumonic plague.
“The chance of this spreading widely in Russia and then extending
here to the U.S. will not happen, not with this type of bacteria,
because it’s not spread easily and we have antibiotics to stop it
from spreading,” he added.
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Associated Press writers Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and
Matthew Lee in Reykjavik, Iceland, contributed to this report.
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