Siberian lab worker's death raises pneumonic plague fears; WHO sees low risk

The death of a 28-year-old laboratory technician in Siberia has sparked fears of a pneumonic plague outbreak, though Russian authorities deny any exceptional health measures and the WHO assesses the risk as low. The woman, Daria Chipilova, died on October 2 after being hospitalized with severe pneumonia symptoms, with unconfirmed reports linking her death to a broken test tube containing plague bacilli. Regional officials initially avoided mentioning plague, and local media reported that around 200 contacts were quarantined and several hospitals closed, though the governor later stated she died of pneumonia of "undetermined origin" with no work-related pathogens detected. The WHO is verifying the situation with Russian authorities, while US officials said they are monitoring it closely, noting limited travel between the countries. Plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, still causes about 2,000 cases annually worldwide and is treatable with antibiotics. The last French outbreak was in Corsica in 1945, killing 10 people, preceded by the 1920 "rag-pickers' plague" in northern Paris.