Russian authorities downplayed concerns raised by reports of a plague death in Siberia, stating on Monday that the situation is under control.
According to France 24, information published on Friday reported the death of a 28-year-old laboratory technician, Darya Shipilova, working at the anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. These reports caused some alarm.
Moscow clarified that post-mortem tests did not detect the presence of plague in the deceased, thus denying that the disease was the cause of death.
Meanwhile, Washington stated it is closely monitoring the situation, without confirming the presence of an epidemic.