Dear Dames and Knights, 

FEMERAID Medical Team would like to briefly inform you about the plague situation in Russia: on 2 October, a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died after developing severe pneumonia. According to independent reports, she broke a tube containing “Yersinia pestis” pathogen on 25 September; however, Russian authorities deny that a laboratory accident occurred and have not confirmed the plague as the cause of her death. About 200 contacts have been placed under observation or in isolation. To date, there are no publicly confirmed secondary plague cases, and at this stage, there is no evidence of confirmed secondary infections or further person-to-person transmission. 

Some neighbouring countries, including Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, have stepped up border controls and public-health surveillance as a precautionary measure. 

However, the current risk to Europe and the rest of the world remains very low; neither the WHO, the ECDC, nor the European Commission has recommended new travel restrictions or specific public-health measures. 

FEMERAID will continue to monitor the situation closely and will update you immediately should there be any significant changes to the risk assessment or official guidlines. 

At present, no further action is required on our part. 

6 October 2026