Russian health authorities have refuted claims of a second individual falling ill following the death of a worker at a plague research facility in Siberia. The Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) dismissed what they called “false information circulating on social media about a second case of illness.” They confirmed that all contacts of the deceased woman had been checked, revealing no signs of infectious diseases, with nearly 5,000 laboratory tests showing no dangerous pathogens.
The worker, identified as 28-year-old Daria Shipilova, passed away from pneumonia of unknown origin at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Russian authorities swiftly implemented precautionary anti-epidemic measures following her death. Rospotrebnadzor stated that Shipilova had been vaccinated and was therefore immune to the infections she worked with, emphasizing that no relevant pathogens were found in those who had contact with her.
The World Health Organization (WHO) initially assessed the public risk as low but expressed the need for more information from Russian authorities to provide a comprehensive risk evaluation. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered assistance to Russia and sought verification of reports regarding a second employee with pneumonia of unknown cause. Health Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that there was minimal risk to their respective countries.
The CDC has a port health station at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to monitor and screen travelers from affected regions entering the U.S. Flights between Russia and the U.S. have been halted since the onset of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
