No Dangerous Pathogens Found In Irkutsk Region After Death Of Plague Institute Employee

Reform.news Editorial Team · 8 October 2026, 18:30

https://reform.news/en/no-dangerous-pathogens-found-in-irkutsk-region-after-death-of-plague-institute-employee/

A set of preventive measures has been completed in the Irkutsk Region following a case of community-acquired pneumonia in an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. The region’s governor, Igor Kobzev, reported this.

According to him, no accidents involving the handling of pathogenic microorganisms were identified at the institute. An expert commission and specialists from Rospotrebnadzor confirmed compliance with safety requirements when working with dangerous microorganisms.

The Russian regional governor said the woman had been vaccinated and had immunity to the infections she worked with. Medical monitoring of everyone who had been in contact with her has also been completed.

“No health problems related to infectious disease were identified. The results of nearly 5,000 laboratory tests did not detect any dangerous pathogenic microorganisms. The sanitary and epidemiological situation in Irkutsk and Shelekhov is calm. The World Health Organization publicly confirmed the absence of risks to public health the day before,” he said.

Earlier, Russian media reported that the employee of the anti-plague institute had allegedly died from pneumonic plague. Rospotrebnadzor said she had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” No accidents involving the handling of pathogenic microorganisms were identified. It was also reported that there had been no changes in the health of people who had been in contact with the deceased and are currently under observation.