US health authorities said they are “closely monitoring” a suspected plague outbreak in Russia, while the World Health Organization sought urgent clarification over reports of a second death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it was “aware and closely monitoring” the situation after the Friday death of Daria Shipilova, a Russian laboratory worker who reportedly may have accidentally broken a test tube containing a plague sample at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute.
The United States has also issued a démarche, a formal diplomatic notice, urging Moscow to provide more information amid concerns that officials have not disclosed the full scope of the incident.
“We are working across the US government to assess developments as additional information becomes available,” the CDC said.
“While the circumstances of this reported case remain unconfirmed, plague is a serious bacterial disease that is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when recognized and treated early.”
“Pneumonic plague can spread person-to-person through respiratory droplets during close contact, which is why rapid identification and treatment of infected individuals, along with monitoring potentially exposed people, are important public health measures.”
“At this time, there is no indication of a broader threat to the United States, but the CDC and our interagency partners are prepared and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The US government has stepped up pressure on Moscow, issuing the démarche to seek additional information, a source told CNN on Tuesday.
“We have officially requested additional information from the Russian government,” a State Department spokesperson said.
“We are also in official communication with other countries around the world to share information.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was watching the situation “very closely, hour by hour” after Shipilova’s suspected laboratory accident.
She is believed to have developed pneumonia after breaking a test tube containing plague bacteria, but Moscow has said she died from “pneumonia of unknown origin.”
“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio said.
The World Health Organization has likewise pressed Moscow for greater transparency, citing media reports that a second person may have died.
“WHO has requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures, and media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said official information would be provided by Russia’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.
With Post wires
