Riyaz ul Khaliq
07 October 2026•Update: 07 October 2026
China said it maintains close cooperation with Russia on infectious disease prevention after the death of a Russian laboratory worker prompted questions about possible pneumonic plague.
“China and Russia maintain close exchanges and cooperation on the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including plague,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Tuesday.
He was responding to a question about whether Moscow had contacted Chinese authorities or experts for assistance.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was “following closely” the death of the worker in Russia’s Irkutsk region.
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva that the woman died on Oct. 2 after developing severe pneumonia. The pathogen responsible had not been officially confirmed.
Lindmeier said Russian authorities had responded to the WHO’s request for information, updating an earlier statement that Moscow had not formally replied through International Health Regulations channels.
According to the Russian response, authorities conducted an epidemiological investigation after identifying community-acquired pneumonia in an employee of the Irkutsk Scientific Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East.
“The illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection,” Lindmeier said, reading from the response.
"According to the test results, no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts," he added.
The WHO contacted Russian authorities on Oct. 3 seeking information and offering support.
“Based on unofficial information available, the public health risk to the general population appears to be low,” Lindmeier said.
The WHO’s initial assessment put the risk at “moderate to low” for Irkutsk, “low” for Russia overall and “very low” for its European region.
