Second person dies of suspected plague in Russia’s Irkutsk region, local media claim

Russian media outlets are reporting that a second person has died of suspected plague at a hospital in the Irkutsk region, even as the Kremlin plays down the outbreak.

The Daily Mail reports that the claim surfaced on Tuesday, days after lab worker Darya Shipilova, 28, died on October 2 after reportedly breaking a test tube holding live bacteria at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute. About 200 people she contacted are being monitored.

Russia’s health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, says she died of “pneumonia of an unspecified type”. Neighbouring Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have reportedly tightened border health controls.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “One should rely on official statements from Rospotrebnadzor rather than listening to various rumors and speculation.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it.”

Reports say several hospitals in the area have been placed under quarantine, and plague-related articles have been deleted from some Russian media sites.