World Health Organization calls on Russia to explain the death of a plague suspect

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The World Health Organization announced that it does not have a “complete picture” of the death of a 28-year-old Russian woman who worked in a laboratory in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, suspected of being infected with the plague, at a time when Moscow confirms that the cause is unknown pneumonia and denies the existence of any risk of an outbreak of the disease.

Daria Shebilova died just two days after symptoms resembling a cold appeared on her. She was working at the Plague Research Institute in the city in eastern Russia, amid reports that she was likely exposed to the infection following an accident that occurred in the workplace.

The Russian authorities denied any connection between the death and the institute, confirming that the young woman died of “pneumonia of unknown cause,” and described the health and epidemiological situation in the region as stable, according to what was reported by the British newspaper The Guardian.

The organization's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that the organization does not yet have a complete picture of the incident, and cannot conduct a comprehensive risk assessment. He added that sharing full, transparent and timely information is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public risks.

He indicated that he requested additional clarifications from the Russian government regarding unconfirmed media reports that spoke of a second employee suffering from pneumonia of unknown cause, stressing that the organization is evaluating any reports it receives from the local community and is awaiting the Russian response.

For her part, Maria Van Kerkhove, Director of the Organization's Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Prevention Department, explained that the UN agency still does not know how Shepilova became infected in the first place, and what viral disease infected her. She added that if pneumonic plague is ruled out, the actual cause of death remains unknown.

However, Russian officials imposed strict quarantine measures on the laboratory in which the young woman worked and on nearby hospitals, and the employees remained detained inside the institute for three days, during which they slept on the floors and chairs until the examinations and analyzes were completed.

The Baikal medical journal reported that health officials in Irkutsk had taken broad measures to prevent any possible spread of infection. Neighbors said that workers wearing white protective suits and gas masks disinfected the two-story residential building, where the young woman was staying, several times after her death last Friday.

A woman in her forties said that the smell was “unbearable and very pungent,” and that a woman knocked on their door and informed her that the treatment was intended for cockroaches, even though the building did not suffer from them at all, before she saw her putting her suit in a bag, and then she knew that the matter was related to rumors of the plague.

In an interview with local media, Svetlana, the 64-year-old mother of the young woman, ruled out the hypothesis that her daughter was injured after breaking a test tube, stressing that the tube is unbreakable even if it is thrown against the wall. She described her daughter as being dedicated to her work and a “pure humanitarian” who devoted her life to her job.

Former classmates expressed doubts about the hypothesis of contracting the infection from the workplace, and one of them said that her reputation had been “tarnished” without a proper investigation, indicating that the matter was not consistent with what he knew about her loyalty and responsibility.

The Kremlin sought to downplay the importance of the incident, and ignored an offer of assistance made by US President Donald Trump earlier in the week, while the White House continued to pressure Moscow to obtain more details, while stressing that the risks to America were very minimal.

Trump said on Tuesday that he would talk “very soon” about the issue with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who turned 74 on Wednesday. The Kremlin reported that no contact between them had been arranged yet, but that it could be organized quickly if needed.