Kremlin Rejects Reports of Possible Plague Case in Siberia
Moscow says most media reports about a possible plague infection in Siberia are false. The US, the EU and the WHO are urging Russia to be transparent about the death of a laboratory technician.
Russian authorities have dismissed media reports of a second possible plague case in Siberia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said most of what the media were reporting about the situation was false information. He urged people to rely solely on statements from the federal consumer rights and human welfare watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.
Death of a technician in Irkutsk
The affair began on 2 October, when a laboratory technician at the Irkutsk plague research institute died. Media reported that the woman may have been infected with pneumonic plague. The online outlet People of Baikal (Lyudi Baikala) named her as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova and said she may have been infected from a broken test tube. The outlet also reported that up to 200 people she might have come into contact with had been placed in quarantine. Other media pointed to a possible link between her death and a laboratory accident at the institution.
Russian authorities maintain that the cause of her death has not yet been confirmed. Rospotrebnadzor, for its part, has denied online claims that special measures have been introduced.
International pressure
The United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called on Russia to be transparent. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Moscow to explain reports that another institute employee had fallen ill with pneumonia of unknown origin.
Peskov said he was not aware of any official request from Washington for explanations. An anonymous source, however, said the US had asked Russia for such information through confidential diplomatic channels, known as a demarche.
