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
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.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.