The World Health Organization requested information from Russian authorities Wednesday after media reports that a second worker at a Siberian laboratory had developed pneumonia. Russia rejected the reports, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov calling most media accounts false information.
The inquiry followed the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Russian authorities said she died Oct. 2 of pneumonia of unknown origin, while reports on social media had linked her death to suspected pneumonic plague. Russia’s health regulator said no infections had been found among other staff.
The WHO urged Russia to provide information formally. The CDC said it was aware of and closely monitoring reports of a suspected pneumonic-plague case in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Trump said the United States was discussing the incident and that he expected to speak with Vladimir Putin soon.