Countries with plague
Plague persists in natural foci on every continent except Oceania. These are the countries with recent human cases or active foci, and what is happening there now.
Updated:
- Irkutsk case under review
Russia
A laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died on 1-2 October 2026. Plague is reported by media and Telegram channels but not confirmed by Rospotrebnadzor, which cites pneumonia of undetermined etiology and found no plague among 197 contacts. Separately, the Gorno-Altai and Tuva foci show epizootic activity in 2025-2026.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- no data
- Signals, 7 days
- 234
- Marmot-linked cases
Mongolia
A bubonic case was confirmed in late July 2026 in a resident of Khovd who was infected in Ulaankhus soum, Bayan-Olgii (NCZD says after eating marmot meat; Rospotrebnadzor says while butchering a carcass). In August a joint Russian-Mongolian survey confirmed an active focus in Tsagaan-Uul soum, Khovsgol, near the Russian border.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- 76
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- Season Sep to Apr
Madagascar
The 2026-27 season began in September; no official counts have been published yet. Recent cases cluster in Amoron'i Mania: 12 cases and 6 deaths in February-May 2025 and a fatal pneumonic case in Ambositra in January 2026.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- 1,482
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- Most cases worldwide
DR Congo
No 2026 plague counts for Ituri have been published. Ituri is also the epicentre of the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola epidemic, declared a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May 2026, which strains the same health workers and laboratories.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- 1,893
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- About 7 cases a year
United States
Two cases so far in 2026 per provisional CDC data: Apache County, Arizona (April, recovered) and a fatal case in Santa Fe County, New Mexico (June). There were 5 cases in 2025, including a fatal pneumonic case in Coconino County, Arizona, linked to two sick cats.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- no data
- Signals, 7 days
- 2
- Class A disease
China
China CDC's monthly national reports show zero plague cases and deaths in every month from January to August 2026.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- 19
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- New confirmed cases
Kenya
Kenya is one of only six countries that reported laboratory-confirmed human plague to WHO in 2019-2025.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- 375
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- Northern foci
Peru
No 2026 human plague reports found. A suspected case in Paijan, La Libertad, that still circulates online dates from 2023 and was ruled out as H1N1.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- no data
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- Tien Shan focus
Kyrgyzstan
No human cases reported in 2026. Four Y. pestis strains were isolated from animals in 2025. On 4 October 2026 Kyrgyzstan put all sanitary-quarantine checkpoints into enhanced mode after the Irkutsk reports.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- no data
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- Desert foci
Kazakhstan
On 5 October 2026 the Health Ministry said the situation is under continuous monitoring, border sanitary-quarantine control is in place and the risk of importation from Russia is low.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- no data
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
- West Nile focus
Uganda
No human cases reported since 2019.
- WHO cases 2019-25
- 2
- Signals, 7 days
- 0
WHO counts are suspected cases from the Weekly Epidemiological Record of 25 September 2026. Russia, the US, Peru, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan reported no cases to WHO in that period or submitted no data; "no data" is not zero.