US urges Russia to be transparent about plague suspicion

The vagueness persists after the death of a 28-year-old laboratory worker working for the Plague Control Institute in Irkutsk, Siberia. The United States and the World Health Organization (WHO) therefore demanded on Tuesday that Russia demonstrate transparency.

The Russian authorities, for their part, denied the introduction of health measures following this death reported by several Russian media on Friday. From the White House, Donald Trump announced that a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin was “planned” on this matter, adding that it would take place “very soon”.

The bad memory of Covid-19

The main American public health agency (CDC) said Tuesday on The head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio had earlier called on Russia for transparency and to “share more information about what happened”, stressing that any laboratory infection was particularly worrying since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The communication of timely, complete and transparent information within the framework of the International Health Regulations is essential to clarify contradictory information and allow an accurate assessment of potential risks to public health,” wrote the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on X, adding that he had “requested additional information” from the Russian health authorities. The WHO, on the other hand, estimated that the risk was “low” for Russia and “very low” for Europe.

Washington would have warned Moscow

According to the Wall Street Journal, Washington officially warned Moscow that its reluctance to provide details contravened international health obligations. Russia assures that the situation is under control. The Russian public health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, indicated that the health and epidemiological situation was stable in the region concerned, as in the cities of Irkutsk and Chelekhov. It was in a hospital in Chelekhov that the laboratory assistant died.

According to the media People of Baikal, the victim, Daria Chipilova, could have contracted pneumonic plague after a test tube broke. The regional governor, Igor Kobzev, said on Monday that post-mortem analyzes carried out by a special commission of Rospotrebnadzor experts indicated that the young woman had died of “pneumonia” of “undetermined” origin. According to the investigation, “no microorganisms linked to the young woman’s professional activity were detected in her biomaterials,” he said, adding that no other employee of the institute had consulted a doctor.

Our articles on the Plague

Plague is an infectious disease caused by bacteria. Pneumonic plague is highly contagious and can be fatal if not treated promptly.