{"id":795302,"date":"2026-10-07T23:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T23:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/795302\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T23:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T23:02:09","slug":"who-says-it-does-not-have-full-picture-from-russia-following-suspected-plague-death-world-health-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/795302\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO says it does not have \u2018full picture\u2019 from Russia following suspected plague death | World Health Organization"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Health Organization<\/a> has said it does not have the \u201cfull picture\u201d from Russia following the suspected death from plague last week of a 28-year-old laboratory worker in Siberia.<\/p>\n

Darya Shipilova died two days after falling ill with cold-like symptoms<\/a>. She was an employee at the anti-plague research institute in the eastern city of Irkutsk, with some reports suggesting she was infected after a workplace accident.<\/p>\n

The Russian authorities have denied a connection with the institute and say Shipilova died from \u201cpneumonia of an unknown aetiology\u201d<\/a>. They insist there is no danger of a plague outbreak and have described the \u201csanitary and epidemiological\u201d situation in the region as stable.<\/p>\n

At the same time, officials have imposed sweeping quarantine restrictions at the lab where Shipilova worked and in nearby hospitals. Staff were locked down inside the institute for three days, sleeping on the floors and on chairs, while tests were conducted.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: \u201cWe don\u2019t yet have the full picture of this event and we\u2019re not able to conduct a full risk assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimely, complete and transparent information sharing is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tedros said he also wanted more clarification from the Russian government following unconfirmed media reports of \u201ca second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assess any reporting from the community,\u201d he said. \u201cWe asked Russia to respond to that. We\u2019re waiting for an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WHO\u2019s director of epidemic and pandemic management, Maria Van Kerkhove, said the agency still did not know how Shipilova became infected in the first place \u2013 and with what viral disease. If pneumonic plague was ruled out, \u201cwhat did she actually die from?\u201d Kerkhove asked.<\/p>\n

In an interview with local media<\/a>, Shipilova\u2019s 64-year-old mother, Svetlana, discounted the theory that her daughter had been infected after smashing a test tube. \u201cI know the truth. I\u2019m fending off stupid friends who believe this. A test tube is unbreakable, even if you throw it against the wall,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She described her daughter as a dedicated worker and \u201cpure person\u201d devoted to her job.<\/p>\n

Former classmates are also sceptical she was infected at her workplace. One reportedly said: \u201cThey\u2019ve smeared a woman without properly investigating. Knowing how hard-working and responsible she was, it just doesn\u2019t add up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kremlin has sought to downplay the incident and has brushed aside an offer of assistance made earlier this week by Donald Trump, the US president. The White House has pressed Moscow for more details of the case, while stressing the risk to the US is very low.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday Trump said he would speak about the plague issue \u201cvery soon\u201d with Vladimir Putin, who celebrated his 74th birthday on Wednesday. The Kremlin said no call had been arranged but could be quickly organised.<\/p>\n

According to the Baikal Medical Journal<\/a>, health officials in Irkutsk have taken extensive measures to stop a potential outbreak from spreading. Neighbours said workers in white protective suits and gas masks disinfected the two-storey brick building where Shipilova lived several times after her death last Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe smell was unbearable and very pungent,\u201d a woman in her 40s said. \u201cA woman knocked on our door. I said: \u2018What are you treating here?\u2019 I already knew about the plague rumours.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said: \u2018It\u2019s for cockroaches.\u2019 But we don\u2019t even have any cockroaches in our building. I saw her packing her overalls into a bag. I was like, \u2018Well, I get it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Health Organization has said it does not have the \u201cfull picture\u201d from Russia following the suspected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-795302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}