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What is pneumonic plague and how dangerous is it?

  • On Tuesday, World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus demanded Russia share transparent information regarding a plague outbreak following the death of laboratory technician Darya Shipilova at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute.
  • Shipilova died on October 2 after working with Yersinia, the bacterium behind the Black Death that "wiped out more than a third of Europe" in the 14th century, according to regional reports.
  • At least 197 people remain in medical isolation as direct or indirect contacts, with around 100 currently monitored in hospital wards, while the WHO investigates a second employee presenting with unexplained pneumonia.
  • Contradictory official accounts have fueled uncertainty, as senior epidemiologist Mikhail Favorov cast doubt on the 'broken test tube' narrative, stating, "It's absolutely hair-raising," and suggesting the public is not being told what really happened.
  • Ghebreyesus emphasized that sharing data under the International Health Regulations is essential to assess potential public health risks, though Moscow claims its epidemiological investigation is complete and detected no high-threat pathogens.
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Lean Right

Russian authorities deny that a lab technician from a laboratory in Siberia died of plague.

·Copenhagen, Denmark
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Center

News quickly and reliably.

·Helsinki, Finland
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Lean Left

The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked Russian authorities for information about media reports of a second laboratory worker developing pneumonia of unknown origin. The request comes amid heightened attention to the case in Irkutsk, where a worker at a plague institute died last week, Reuters reported, quoted by News.bg. The WHO has also asked for additional data to help clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, as well as information ab…

Center

Russian authorities deny that a lab technician from a laboratory in Siberia died of plague

·Copenhagen, Denmark
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Lean Right

"Timely, complete and transparent exchange of information in accordance with the International Health Regulations is essential," says the WHO Secretary-General.

·Borås, Sweden
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India Today broke the news in Noida, India on Monday, October 5, 2026.
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