WHO reacts to reports a second Russian worker has died at Siberia ‘plague lab’

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned it does not ‘have the full picture’ from Russia following reports of a second fatal suspected plague case and a mass lockdown in Siberia.

Lab worker Daria Shipilova, 28, died after a reported accident at an anti-plague research facility involving a broken test tube, reports The Guardian.

She is understood to have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms before succumbing to the sickness which was later suspected to have been pneumonic plague.

Russian authorities, however, dispute this account saying she died of ‘pneumonia of unknown aetiology’ and deny any risk of an outbreak saying the situation in the region is ‘stable’.

Russian responders regularly take part in emergency drills to manage public health emergencies (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Since then, local media outlet Lyuni Baikal has reported a second person had died at the Irkutsk regional medical facility. The report has not been independently verified; however, the WHO has commented on the second case.

On Wednesday Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said: “We don’t yet have the full picture of this event and we’re not able to conduct a full risk assessment.

“Timely, complete and transparent information sharing is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public risks.”

Tedros also asked for an explanation from Russia following reports of ‘a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause’.

“We assess any reporting from the community,” he said. “We asked Russia to respond to that. We’re waiting for an answer.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus discussed the suspected plague case in Geneva on Wednesday (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic management said the agency had not been informed how Daria died. She reportedly asked, “What did she actually die of?”

In an interview with Russian media Daria’s mother, Svetlana, challenged the narrative her daughter had died after breaking a test tube and pointed to the research expedition her daughter had taken part in to study plague-infected squirrels near Russia’s border with Mongolia.

She said, “I know the truth. I’m fending off stupid friends who believe this. A test tube is unbreakable, even if you throw it against the wall.”

A former classmate of Daria is reported to have said, “They’ve smeared a woman without properly investigating. Knowing how hard-working and responsible she was, it just doesn’t add up for me.”

US President Donald Trump had offered Russia help in responding to the suspected plague case and said he would be speaking with Russia’s President Putin about the issue ‘very soon.’

Locals were seen wearing protective masks in the Siberian city (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP via Getty Images)

The Baikal Medical Journal has reported officials in white hazmat suits and gas masks were seen disinfecting apartment blocks in the city of Irkutsk, where Daria is believed to have lived.

“The smell was unbearable and very pungent,” one woman is reported to have said. “A woman knocked on our door. I said: ‘What are you treating here?’ I already knew about the plague rumours.

“She said: ‘It’s for cockroaches.’ But we don’t even have any cockroaches in our building. I saw her packing her overalls into a bag. I was like, ‘Well, I get it.’”