Global Plague Outbreak Unlikely After Russia Death, Experts Say

Experts say a global plague outbreak is unlikely following the death of a Russian lab worker, though the exact cause of death is still under investigation. All contacts have been identified and are under medical observation. The woman, 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, worked at an anti-plague institute in Irkutsk. Pneumonic plague, the most dangerous form, spreads via droplets but only after symptoms appear, making cases easy to detect and isolate. Effective antibiotics exist, with treatment success rates above 85%. The WHO assesses the initial risk as moderate to low for Irkutsk, low for Russia, and very low for Europe. Modern sanitation and medical protocols differ vastly from the 14th-century Black Death, which killed over 25 million people in Europe.