WHO seeks details on possible second Russian pneumonia death

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked Russia for information regarding a possible further death from pneumonia in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, reported German news agency dpa.

WHO expert Abdirahman Mahamud said in Geneva on Wednesday that the request was prompted by a media report that had been verified and deemed credible.

No response has yet been received, he said.

The Russian authorities have also been asked for further information regarding the first case – the death of a female scientist who worked at the Institute for the Control of Plague Diseases in Irkutsk.

The 28-year-old woman died last Friday. The official cause of death is listed as pneumonia of unknown origin.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the organisation does not have a complete picture of the situation and cannot conducted a full risk assessment.

According to the WHO, Russia reported that the young female scientist had not died of pneumonic plague, but of pneumonia of unknown origin. There had been no accident at the institute.

The WHO has asked for details including what tests were carried out on the woman and around 200 other people, exactly what materials she had been working with, what safety measures were in place at the institute, and whether she had been vaccinated and, if so, against which diseases, said WHO specialist Maria Van Kerkhove.

She added that the WHO had been notified of nearly 4,000 plague cases from 10 countries between 2019 and 2025, including 423 deaths.