WHO says no signs of further Russian infections after plague lab worker dies
WHO says it still lacks enough information to assess the risk and has asked Russia about the cause of the worker’s severe pneumonia and a second possible case.
- On Tuesday, the World Health Organization confirmed that Russian authorities identified all contacts of a Siberian plague research institute laboratory worker who died on Friday, with no cases detected among them.
- Following the death, Rospotrebnadzor placed approximately 200 people under medical observation in Irkutsk, though the Russian health watchdog reported that about 60% of those quarantined have already been released.
- Experts, including Javier Pizarro-Cerda of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, expressed surprise at the potential breach, noting that laboratory staff typically work with "full body suits" to prevent exposure to the deadly pathogen.
- President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Russia would receive assistance from authorities, emphasizing calls for transparency as officials continue testing to confirm the cause of death.
- While health authorities maintain that the risk of a wider outbreak appears low, plague remains endemic in several parts of the world, including western areas where transmission between humans is generally poor.
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263 Articles
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is not "able" at this stage to conduct a full assessment after a suspected case of plague in Russia.
The Daily Advance
Bowen Island UndercurrentUN health agency wants more details from Russia on suspected pneumonic plague case
A top official with the World Health Organization says the U.N. health agency doesn’t know how a lab employee in Siberia died amid concerns about plague, and she called on Russia to provide more information. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director…
Russia plague-lab worker’s death spurs WHO transparency push
The World Health Organization is pressing Russia for more information on the death of a worker in a plague lab, saying that what’s been disclosed so far makes it impossible to determine the risk the case poses.
Russian Rosspernadzor stated that there was no risk of an epidemic in Siberia, but the exact cause of death of a 28-year-old laboratory worker was still unknown.
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