Russia dismisses transparency calls amid reports of second Siberia plague case

Russia dismissed calls for transparency over the death of a laboratory technician from plague in Siberia on Wednesday, as reports emerged of a second case of infection. Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's public health watchdog, said it saw "no epidemic risk" following the death of a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, identified as Darya Shipilova, who died last week in the town of Shelekhov near Irkutsk. The agency said Shipilova had been "vaccinated and had immunity to the dangerous infections she was working with," and that nearly 5,000 laboratory tests had detected no dangerous pathogens. More than 90% of those who had contact with her had completed medical monitoring, it said.