The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated this Tuesday that it is closely monitoring the death of a laboratory employee in Russia due to a possible pneumonic plague. The agency has specified that it is already in contact with Moscow to "verify" what happened and analyze "any potential implications at the level of international public health."
"A woman who worked in a laboratory in the Irkutsk region has died and the authorities are analyzing whether the death was caused by pneumonic plague," said the agency's spokesperson, Christian Lindmeier, who emphasized that the woman worked at "an institute that studies dangerous pathogens, including plague, in a part of Siberia where plague is naturally recorded in wild animals."
The spokesperson explained that, for the moment, there is no official confirmation regarding the cause of death, as diagnostic tests are still ongoing. He also conveyed the message sent by the Russian authorities, who insist that so far no "dangerous pathogens or infectious diseases" have been identified among the people who had contact with the deceased worker.
Chronology of the alert and risk assessment
Lindmeier detailed a timeline of events that begins on October 2, when "the internal monitoring system detects information in the media about a suspicious death from pneumonic plague in Irkutsk, after which it begins to monitor the situation." One day later, the WHO communicates with the Russian authorities to "verify the event, the circumstances, the laboratory tests, their results, the logic behind the contact tracing and their health status, as well as any potential implications at the level of international public health."
In this context, he indicated that the contacts of the researcher have already been located and are under health observation, emphasizing that "none have shown symptoms of illness to date." Based on this, the international organization "estimates that the risk is between moderate and low in Irkutsk, low for Russia as a whole, and very low for the European region of the WHO."
On the other hand, he pointed out that this risk assessment will be adjusted as Russia provides new data, while emphasizing that the WHO "is prepared to support the Russian authorities, should they request it."
Meanwhile, Russian authorities have emphasized that the epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region is "stable," after having implemented various emergency measures in recent days following the death of a researcher in an alleged laboratory accident in the town of Shelejov.