WHO says plague risk low in Russia after Siberian lab worker death

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that the public health risk in Russia is low following reports that a laboratory technician died of plague in Siberia's Irkutsk region. The WHO's initial assessment estimates the risk as moderate to low for Irkutsk, low for Russia as a whole, and very low for the European region, according to spokesman Christian Lindmeier. Authorities are investigating whether pneumonic plague caused the death of Darya Shipilova, 28, who worked at an institute studying dangerous pathogens.