Russia’s health watchdog dismissed rumors on Thursday about a second person falling ill after the death of a lab worker at a plague research facility in Siberia. The regulator refuted the “fake information” circulating on social media, stating that thorough checks on all contacts of the deceased woman revealed no health issues related to infectious diseases. The nearly 5,000 laboratory tests conducted showed no presence of dangerous pathogens.
The 28-year-old lab employee, Daria Shipilova, passed away last Friday from pneumonia of unknown origin at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia. Authorities in Russia swiftly implemented precautionary anti-epidemic measures following her death. Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian health watchdog, confirmed that Shipilova died from an unspecified type of pneumonia and that no relevant pathogens were found in individuals who had contact with her. Officials stated that she was vaccinated and therefore immune to the infections she worked with.
The World Health Organization initially assessed the public risk of the case in Russia as low. However, due to a lack of information from Russian authorities, a comprehensive risk evaluation was not possible. The WHO offered assistance to Russia and sought to verify reports of a second employee with pneumonia of unknown cause. Health Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also monitored the situation, with both countries indicating minimal risk to their populations.
The CDC has a health station at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to monitor and screen travelers from the affected region entering the United States. Approximately 200 individuals from Siberia travel to the U.S. annually, with direct flights between Russia and the United States suspended since the onset of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.