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Where plague is spreading, what changed and how fast it is moving. Avos reads the world's health agencies and local press around the clock and tells you, in plain words.

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Plague · Yersinia pestis
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No plague found in Irkutsk; China tightens border surveillance, while Madagascar reports four cases.

189Contacts under observation
0Secondary cases
3,847Suspected cases worldwide
11%Case fatality
Hotspots
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Updated Oct 17, 2026, 19:11 UTC
EmergencyHighWatchTravel-linked
Contacts under observation
189
Irkutsk, Siberia
Secondary cases
0
reported to WHO, Sep 29
Suspected cases worldwide
3,847
2019 to 2025, WHO
Case fatality
11%
2019 to 2025, WHO
The brief

No plague found in Irkutsk; China tightens border surveillance, while Madagascar reports four cases.

A laboratory worker at an Irkutsk antiplague institute died of pneumonia on October 2. Russian authorities reported no evidence of plague or other high-threat pathogens after contact tracing and testing. China has strengthened surveillance at its Manzhouli border crossing.

Madagascar has reported four confirmed plague cases since late July and five suspected cases detected last week. About 200 contacts received preventive treatment, while officials began insecticide spraying and hygiene campaigns.

Human cases reported worldwide, per month

Plague · last 9 months
02550JanMarMayJulSep45
Shape estimated around the reported totals
What changed

Plague, as it happened.

October 2026

  1. 16Fri
    China strengthened disease surveillance at the Manzhouli crossing after the unexplained death of an Irkutsk laboratory worker.RussiaThis week
    The BMJ
  2. 16Fri
    Madagascar reported four confirmed plague cases since late July and five suspected cases detected last week.MadagascarThis week
    CIDRAP
  3. 10Sat
    WHO said no plague was registered in Irkutsk, contacts remained asymptomatic, and there was no evidence of ongoing transmission.RussiaThis week
    WHO
  4. 5Mon
    The US says it is ready to help Russia respond in Siberia.Russia
    Al Jazeera
  5. 2Fri
    Nearly 200 people under observation in Irkutsk.Russia
    The Moscow Times

September 2026

  1. 29Tue
    Russia tells WHO no contacts have plague. WHO: risk to the public low.Russia
    TIME

August 2026

  1. 4Tue
    A plague scare closes a Russia-Mongolia border crossing.Russia
    The Moscow Times

July 2026

  1. 28Tue
    A 15-year-old dies of bubonic plague in Gobi-Altai, Mongolia.Mongolia
    The Moscow Times
XIII
The Plague Doctor
Plague
After Paul Fürst, Der Doctor Schnabel von Rom, 1656 (public domain). Figure isolated by Struthious Bandersnatch, CC BY 4.0.
Know the disease

Plague, in brief.

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Pathogen
Yersinia pestis
Spreads by
Bites of fleas from infected rodents such as marmots. The pneumonic form spreads between people by coughing.
Incubation
1 to 7 days, as little as 1 to 3 for pneumonic plague.
Treatment
Common antibiotics cure it when started early.
Where it lives
Rodent reservoirs in Congo, Madagascar, Peru, Mongolia, China, Central Asia and the western US.
How it spreads
  1. 1. RodentsMarmots, rats and ground squirrels keep it between outbreaks.
  2. 2. FleasFleas that fed on a sick animal carry it on.
  3. 3. A biteBubonic plague: swollen glands, cured by early antibiotics.
  4. 4. Cough to coughIn the lungs it turns pneumonic and spreads between people.
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Method

How this page is made.

The engine that writes Avos briefings, pointed at public health.

1. Read

Every six hours, Atlas, the Avos news engine, reads WHO's outbreak news, ECDC and the latest reporting on each outbreak.

2. Extract

A model updates every figure, place and date in a fixed form, only from what the sources say, and keeps the link to where it came from.

3. Check

New figures are compared with the last report. A figure that jumps or falls without explanation is held back and the last checked one stays.

This page reports what health agencies and journalists publish. Figures lag and get revised, and some places report little or nothing. It is not medical advice: for that, follow your local health authority.