As whispers circulate of plague in faraway Siberia, it’s worth remembering that Russian obfuscation is so ingrained that it’s become a meme. In HBO’s dramatized 2019 series about the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, a Russian atomic scientist scoffs at a radiation reading that suggests a major calamity is taking place. Except that reading was not accurate.
The nuclear reactor had already exploded and unleashed catastrophic levels of radiation that would go on to cause thousands of cancer-related deaths in the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. While dramatized, the scene is emblematic of a long-standing Soviet and Russian desire to downplay critical incidents — and even cover them up. That pattern has flared this week, with senior world health officials, the European Union and U.S.
President Donald Trump demanding that Moscow be more transparent about a suspected outbreak of plague in far eastern Russia. In dark comedic twist in the face of the potential plague, Dyatlov’s dismissive remark is now ubiquitous. The death of a 28-year-old employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East last week triggered unease across the globe due to her laboratory work — and a local Russian official linking her death to a case of plague.
Russia was quick to clamp down. Rospotrebnadzor, the country’s national public health agency, said that the employee died from “pneumonia of unknown etiology” and that no microorganisms associated with her work were identified in the patient sample. Still, Russian health authorities placed nearly 200 people under supervision and local media reported that several hospitals were placed under quarantine.
Rospotrebnadzor said Thursday these measures were taken due to “the patient's professional activities.” The World Health Organization, which leads global response to international health threats, got in touch with Russian health authorities on Oct. 3. It requested more information using one of the tools laid out in the International Health Regulations, which Russia is signed up to. Under the IHR, countries have 24 hours to respond to the WHO — though Russia sent its response on Oct. 6.
Russian authorities said that “no case of plague had recently been registered in Irkutsk” and “no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts.” As of Thursday, Russian health authorities maintain that there is no “epidemic risk” in the region. Rospotrebnadzor said that it had concluded health inspections and found “no emergency situations involving pathogenic microorganisms.” It had also completed monitoring of 90% of the contacts, without identifying any infections, the agency added. Simultaneously, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov slammed media reports about the case as false and said Russia has been communicating with global health authorities.
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