US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Russia to be more transparent over the death of a laboratory worker in Siberia, amid conflicting accounts about whether she contracted pneumonic plague in a research facility.
The 28-year-old woman, named as Darya Shipilova, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and died in hospital after developing an illness initially described as a typical acute respiratory viral infection.
“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Mr Rubio said after arriving in Reykjavik, Iceland. He called for Moscow to be “transparent” about the incident and any associated risks.
Russia’s national health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, has denied that Ms Shipilova was diagnosed with plague. It said she died from “pneumonia of unknown etiology”, meaning the precise cause of the infection had not been established.
The agency’s account followed reports from regional officials that Ms Shipilova may have died after a laboratory accident involving plague, with some of those reports later removed from online platforms.
Rospotrebnadzor said an analysis of samples taken from the worker had found no microorganisms associated with her work handling dangerous pathogens. It also rejected reports that several health facilities in the region had been placed under restrictions.
The hospital where Ms Shipilova was treated was partially shut down under quarantine conditions while about 200 recent close contacts were assessed. Russian authorities said all those who had been in contact with her before her death had been identified.
The World Health Organisation said none of the contacts had shown symptoms associated with plague. Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman, said some cold and flu infections, including several cases of Covid-19, had been detected among those screened, but no more serious infection had been identified.
Mr Lindmeier said the public health risk was considered moderate to low in Irkutsk, low for Russia as a whole and very low across the WHO European region. He added that the organisation was monitoring the situation and was ready to assist Russian authorities if requested.
The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute is located in an area of Siberia where plague occurs naturally among wild animal populations. Russian authorities are continuing to examine whether pneumonic plague caused Ms Shipilova’s death.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that American officials were monitoring the case and were prepared to help. “We’re looking at it very strongly, we just heard about it,” he said.
