Health authorities have denied any epidemic risk following the death of a 28-year-old laboratory employee at the Irkutsk anti-plague research institute in Siberia. Darya Shipilova died last week amid reports of a possible plague infection and a second suspected case. Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said nearly five thousand laboratory tests had detected no dangerous pathogens and that most people who had contact with Shipilova had completed medical monitoring. Officials maintained that her death involved pneumonia, although its precise cause remained undetermined. The Kremlin dismissed much of the media reporting as inaccurate. However, WHO has called for timely and transparent information-sharing, and the USA has requested further details from Moscow. WHO officials assessed the international risk as very low. Pneumonic plague can spread between people through respiratory droplets and may be fatal without prompt treatment, although antibiotics are effective when administered early.