The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
“A woman who worked at the laboratory in Irkutsk Oblast has died, and the authorities are looking into whether pneumonic plague caused her death,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.
He underscored that her workplace was “an institute that studies dangerous pathogens, including plague, in a part of Siberia where plague occurs naturally in wild animals.”
No cause of death has been officially confirmed to date and laboratory testing is reportedly underway, Mr. Lindmeier said.
Sharing with reporters a message received from the Russian health authorities moments earlier on Tuesday, the WHO spokesperson said that “according to the test results, no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts.”
The authorities’ message indicated that the illness “initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection.”
Explaining the timeline of events, Mr. Lindmeier said that on 2 October “the internal monitoring system picked up the media reports of a suspected death from pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk Oblast and started monitoring the situation.”
The next day WHO contacted the Russian health authorities to get more information under the International Health Regulations “to verify the event, its circumstances, the laboratory tests underway and their results, the rationale for contact tracing and the health status of the contacts, as well as any potential international public health implication,” Mr. Lindmeier said.
All of the patients' contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored, he added, stressing that “none to date have shown symptoms of illness.”
Mr. Lindmeier stated that WHO’s initial risk assessment from the information available “estimates the risk to be moderate to low for Irkutsk, a low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WHO European region.”
He stressed that this assessment will be updated as more information comes in.
WHO is following the situation closely, working with headquarters to keep other countries informed, and stands “ready to support the Russian authorities if they ask.”
Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis usually found in small mammals and their fleas. Pneumonic plague occurs when the bacteria infects the lungs. WHO notes that this form of plague infection is especially contagious and “can trigger severe epidemics through person-to-person transmission via respiratory particles.”
According to WHO, pneumonic plague “can be fatal within 18 to 24 hours of disease onset if left untreated, but common antibiotics for enterobacteria can effectively cure the disease if they are delivered early.”
-ends-
STORY: Irkutsk suspected plague death – WHO
TRT: 2:21’’
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 6 OCTOBER 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speakers on screens; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “A woman who worked at the laboratory in Irkutsk Oblast has died, and the authorities are looking into whether pneumonic plague caused her death. Her workplace was an institute that studies dangerous pathogens, including plague, in a part of Siberia where plague occurs naturally in wild animals.”
4. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speakers on screens.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “To date, no cause of death has been officially confirmed and laboratory testing is reportedly underway. All of the patients' contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness.”
6. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “The illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection. According to the test results, no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts. So that's from the message received from the Russian authorities, from the focal point, just now.”
8. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speakers on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “WHO is in contact with the Russian health authorities to verify the event, its circumstances, the laboratory tests underway, and their results, the rationale for contact tracing and the health status of the contacts, as well as any potential international public health implication. WHO has offered support if needed.”
10. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “The WHO initial risk assessment from the information available estimates the risk to be moderate to low for Irkutsk, a low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WHO European region. We will update the assessment as more information comes in.”
12. Various shots: Journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WFP
Aid agencies warned on Friday of the fast-developing humanitarian emergency inside Taiz City in Yemen, which has been encircled by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country’s west coast.
2
17
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | OCHA , WMO
Two UN agencies teamed up on Wednesday to issue an appeal for immediate assistance to help communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño on record.
3
16
2
2
Edited News , B-roll , Conferences , Images | UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Sixth Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts for Sudan
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , UNHCR
Yemen war continues to force families from homes amid hunger and disease
More than 250,000 people have now fled renewed fighting in Yemen, the UN said on Tuesday, citing particular concern for those sheltering in the southwestern city of Taiz and the wider governorate, where access is “essentially blocked”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
A little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.