The Kremlin urges the public to rely on official information from the Russian consumer protection service.

On Monday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for calm and urged people to rely exclusively on information from the Russian consumer protection service, Rospotrebnadzor, following an alert issued Sunday by the White House about a possible outbreak of pneumonic plague in Russia’s Siberian region of Irkutsk.

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“The main body with decision-making authority in this field is Rospotrebnadzor. And it is necessary to follow Rospotrebnadzor’s official statement and not pay attention to rumors and speculation,” he said, stressing that “high-level professionals work at that institution, so we should heed their official statements.”

According to the Meduza news outlet, a 28-year-old woman — an employee of the Irkutsk and Far East Plague Research Institute — died last week at a hospital in Shelekhov, a satellite city of the regional capital.

Two versions are currently being investigated: that the patient contracted the disease in Thailand, where she had recently returned from, or as a result of the accidental breakage of a test tube containing pathogens at her workplace.

For its part, Rospotrebnadzor reported that it was a case of “pneumonia of undetermined etiology,” and so far, none of the patient’s contacts have become ill or tested positive.

⚠️A brief overview of Pneumonic and
Bubonic Plague.

The bacteria that causes this is Yersinia Pestis, it is an antique bacteria that resulted in the black death in Europe in the dark ages.

The bacteria involves the urine of the black rat, ‘rattis rattis’ , and the rat’s fleas.… pic.twitter.com/L8YI8bKSX7

— Dr Richard Hirschson (@richardhirschs1) October 4, 2026

On Sunday, a White House source told Axios the previous day that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was monitoring the situation in Russia following the possible death of a woman from this terrible disease and was “considering courses of action.”

Authorities placed several hospitals in Irkutsk under quarantine over suspicions of pneumonic plague. “At this time, the editorial staff cannot confirm that all hospitals in Irkutsk have been closed. Strict restrictions have been implemented in the inpatient areas of the quarantined facilities. Patients cannot see their relatives, and visits are prohibited,” outlet Liudi Baikala said.

A source from the regional health services told Liudi Baikala that the authorities had not acknowledged the situation and that no official document lists a diagnosis of “pneumonic plague.”

On Oct. 2, Gov. Igor Kobzev held an emergency meeting over “the suspicion of a case of infection of a resident of the region with an especially dangerous infection,” without specifying which one.

He said authorities were carrying out a comprehensive set of health measures and had prepared a contingency plan. “All the people who had contact (with the patient) are under medical observation. As of today, none of them have symptoms of infection and all tests are negative,” Kobzev said.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE – Liudi Baikala

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