WASHINGTON, D.C. | October 7, 2026 | The United States is urging Americans currently in Russia to leave the country immediately as officials monitor reports surrounding the death of a laboratory worker in Siberia and a possible case of pneumonic plague.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a health alert Tuesday after reports emerged from Russia’s Irkutsk region, where a 28-year-old employee of an anti-plague research institute died following an illness described as pneumonia of unknown origin.
Russian authorities quarantined people who had contact with the woman. Early reports raised concerns that she may have been exposed to plague bacteria at the laboratory, although Russian officials have not confirmed that a laboratory accident occurred or that plague caused her death.
The World Health Organization has said Russia reported no confirmed cases of plague in Irkutsk, and people who had contact with the woman reportedly tested negative for dangerous infectious pathogens.
Is there a plague outbreak?
At this time, there is not enough evidence to call the situation a confirmed plague outbreak.
Pneumonic plague is a serious form of plague that affects the lungs and can spread through respiratory particles. It can be fatal without prompt treatment, but antibiotics can be effective when treatment begins quickly, according to the World Health Organization.
U.S. officials are continuing to monitor the situation and have asked Russia for additional information.
Why are Americans being told to leave?
The health concern comes on top of an existing U.S. warning against travel to Russia.
The State Department has Russia under a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory, citing terrorism, wrongful detention, civil unrest and the limited ability of the U.S. government to assist Americans there.
The department says Americans already in Russia should leave immediately while commercial transportation remains available.
How many Americans are in Russia?
There is no reliable public count of how many U.S. citizens are physically in Russia at any given moment.
Russian statistics show that 7,152 U.S. citizens entered Russia during the first six months of 2026, including nearly 3,000 recorded as tourists. That figure represents border entries, not unique Americans currently in the country.
For comparison, approximately 7,430 U.S. citizens entered Russia during the first half of 2025.
The numbers demonstrate that thousands of Americans continue to travel to Russia each year despite the U.S. government’s longstanding warning.
For Americans currently there, officials are advising them to make plans to leave and to follow both U.S. and local health guidance.
For now, officials have not confirmed a pneumonic plague outbreak. But the combination of a suspected serious infectious disease case and Russia’s existing security risks has prompted the United States to again urge Americans to leave the country immediately.
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