The Chinese Government stated on Tuesday that it was maintaining “exchange and cooperation” with Russia on the possible outbreak of pneumonic plague that triggered Siberia.
© REUTERS/Stringer
07/10/2026
by
Lusa
“ A China and Russia maintain close exchanges and cooperation on the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including plague,” said Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a written response to the media.
According to the Russian local press, last week, between October 1 and 02, a 28 - year - old girl died — an employee of the Irkutsk Pest Research Institute and the Far East — in a Shelekhov hospital, a satellite city of the regional capital.
To date, two hypotheses are being studied: that the patient has been infected with pneumonic plague, caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, in Thailand, from which she has recently returned, or as a result of the accidental rupture of a test tube with pathogens in her workplace.
The US Government issued a warning on Sunday about a possible outbreak of pulmonary plague in that Siberian area and since then the Russian independent channel Liudi Baikala reported that the Russian authorities have quarantined several hospitals in Irkutsk due to suspicions that an outbreak of pulmonary plague has occurred.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that he has scheduled for “very soon” a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to talk about the apparent outbreak, and that Washington will probably be able to report on the talks with Moscow today.
In turn, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) ensured on Tuesday that it is closely monitoring the event, while the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the health risk in Europe as “very low” after the Siberian incident.