What’s really happening with plague in Russia?

A plague scare in Siberia has become a Rorschach test for public health fears in a post-Covid world.

Russian officials are investigating the death of a worker at a plague research laboratory. They say she died of pneumonia. But speculation online has suggested she may have died from pneumonic plague.

Russian authorities deny this and say there is no risk of an outbreak. So why has the story sparked so much alarm? And how has the legacy of the Covid pandemic played into people's fears of another global health crisis?

The BBC’s health reporter, Jim Reed, joins The Global Story’s Tristan Redman to explain what we know about the case in Russia – and whether the world is prepared for a potential outbreak.

Producers: Hannah Moore and Cat Farnsworth

Executive producer: Martine Powers

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Photo: Plague bacteria (Yersinia pestis), computer illustration. The bacterium causes bubonic plague. Credit: Getty Images.